IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/japwor/v52y2019ics0922142519300040.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of instructional quality on student achievement: Evidence from Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Motegi, Hiroyuki
  • Oikawa, Masato

Abstract

This paper investigates the heterogeneous effects of changes in instructional time on student achievement due to differences in instructional quality, using student test scores and data on teachers and schools from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), as well as a natural experiment caused by a 2002 Japanese curriculum standards revision that reduced instruction time for math but not for science for second-year junior high school (grade 8) students. The random matching of teachers and students in Japan and our application of the time dimension of panel data to two subjects, mathematics and science, allow us to control for unobserved heterogeneities such as individual fixed effects and school fixed effects. We confirm that instructional time is more effective in combination with higher-quality teachers, as measured by common indicators such as experience, schooling, and academic major. We also find that these effects are larger for students whose socioeconomic status (SES) is lower.

Suggested Citation

  • Motegi, Hiroyuki & Oikawa, Masato, 2019. "The effect of instructional quality on student achievement: Evidence from Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:japwor:v:52:y:2019:i:c:s0922142519300040
    DOI: 10.1016/j.japwor.2019.100961
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0922142519300040
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.japwor.2019.100961?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven G. Rivkin & Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain, 2005. "Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(2), pages 417-458, March.
    2. Maria A. Cattaneo & Chantal Oggenfuss & Stefan C. Wolter, 2017. "The more, the better? The impact of instructional time on student performance," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 433-445, September.
    3. Harris, Douglas N. & Sass, Tim R., 2011. "Teacher training, teacher quality and student achievement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 798-812, August.
    4. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Tanaka, Ryuichi, 2008. "The gender-asymmetric effect of working mothers on children's education: Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 586-604, December.
    6. Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2011. "The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 89-200, Elsevier.
    7. Fitzpatrick, Maria D. & Grissmer, David & Hastedt, Sarah, 2011. "What a difference a day makes: Estimating daily learning gains during kindergarten and first grade using a natural experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 269-279, April.
    8. Kawaguchi, Daiji, 2016. "Fewer school days, more inequality," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 35-52.
    9. Hendrik Jürges & Kerstin Schneider & Felix Büchel, 2005. "The Effect Of Central Exit Examinations On Student Achievement: Quasi-Experimental Evidence From TIMSS Germany," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(5), pages 1134-1155, September.
    10. Battistin, Erich & Meroni, Elena Claudia, 2016. "Should we increase instruction time in low achieving schools? Evidence from Southern Italy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 39-56.
    11. Ludger Woessmann, 2016. "The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 3-32, Summer.
    12. Steven G. Rivkin & Jeffrey C. Schiman, 2015. "Instruction Time, Classroom Quality, and Academic Achievement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(588), pages 425-448, November.
    13. Metzler, Johannes & Woessmann, Ludger, 2012. "The impact of teacher subject knowledge on student achievement: Evidence from within-teacher within-student variation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 486-496.
    14. Card, David & Krueger, Alan B, 1992. "Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 1-40, February.
    15. Victor Lavy, 2015. "Do Differences in Schools' Instruction Time Explain International Achievement Gaps? Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(588), pages 397-424, November.
    16. Victor Lavy & Analia Schlosser, 2005. "Targeted Remedial Education for Underperforming Teenagers: Costs and Benefits," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(4), pages 839-874, October.
    17. Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2007. "The Impact of Length of the School Year on Student Performance and Earnings: Evidence From the German Short School Years," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1216-1242, October.
    18. Tanaka, Ryuichi & Ishizaki, Kazumi, 2018. "Do teaching practices matter for students’ academic achievement? A case of linguistic activity," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 26-36.
    19. Thomas S. Dee, 2005. "A Teacher Like Me: Does Race, Ethnicity, or Gender Matter?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 158-165, May.
    20. Thomas S. Dee, 2007. "Teachers and the Gender Gaps in Student Achievement," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(3).
    21. Costas Meghir & Mårten Palme, 2005. "Educational Reform, Ability, and Family Background," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 414-424, March.
    22. Petra E. Todd & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 2003. "On The Specification and Estimation of The Production Function for Cognitive Achievement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 3-33, February.
    23. Johan Coenen & Ilja Cornelisz & Wim Groot & Henriette Maassen van den Brink & Chris Van Klaveren, 2018. "Teacher Characteristics And Their Effects On Student Test Scores: A Systematic Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 848-877, July.
    24. Steven G. Rivkin & Jeffrey C. Schiman, 2015. "Instruction Time, Classroom Quality, and Academic Achievement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(588), pages 425-448, November.
    25. Kawaguchi, Daiji, 2011. "Actual age at school entry, educational outcomes, and earnings," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 64-80, June.
    26. Andrietti, Vincenzo, 2015. "The causal effects of increased learning intensity on student achievement: Evidence from a natural experiment," EconStor Preprints 120874, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    27. Takashi Oshio & Wataru Seno, 2007. "The Economics of Education in Japan: A Survey of Empirical Studies and Unresolved Issues," Japanese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 46-81.
    28. Bellei, Cristián, 2009. "Does lengthening the school day increase students' academic achievement? Results from a natural experiment in Chile," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 629-640, October.
    29. Andrietti, Vincenzo, 2015. "The causal effects of increased learning intensity on student achievement : evidence from a natural experiment," UC3M Working papers. Economics 21136, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    30. Wößmann, Ludger, 2016. "The Importance of School Systems," Munich Reprints in Economics 43463, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    31. Ueda Atsuko, 2009. "Intergenerational Mobility of Earnings and Income in Japan," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-27, December.
    32. Kubota, Kohei, 2016. "Effects of Japanese compulsory educational reforms on household educational expenditure," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 47-60.
    33. Meyer, Erik & Van Klaveren, Chris, 2013. "The effectiveness of extended day programs: Evidence from a randomized field experiment in the Netherlands," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-11.
    34. Kikuchi, Nobuyoshi, 2014. "The effect of instructional time reduction on educational attainment: Evidence from the Japanese curriculum standards revision," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 17-41.
    35. Ashenfelter, Orley & Krueger, Alan B, 1994. "Estimates of the Economic Returns to Schooling from a New Sample of Twins," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1157-1173, December.
    36. Takashi Oshio & Shinpei Sano & Kaori Suetomi, 2010. "Estimate of the Production Function of Education," Japanese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 83-119.
    37. Eric A. Hanushek & Steven G. Rivkin, 2012. "The Distribution of Teacher Quality and Implications for Policy," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 131-157, July.
    38. Masakazu Hojo & Takashi Oshio, 2012. "What Factors Determine Student Performance in East Asia? New Evidence from the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 333-357, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Oikawa, Masato & Tanaka, Ryuichi & Bessho, Shun-ichiro & Noguchi, Haruko, 2020. "Do Class Size Reductions Protect Students from Infectious Disease? Lessons for COVID-19 Policy from Flu Epidemic in Tokyo Metropolitan Area," IZA Discussion Papers 13432, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Atsushi Inoue & Ryuichi Tanaka, 2023. "Do teachers’ college majors affect students’ academic achievement in the sciences? A cross-subfields analysis with student-teacher fixed effects," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 617-631, September.
    3. Naoi, Michio & Akabayashi, Hideo & Nakamura, Ryosuke & Nozaki, Kayo & Sano, Shinpei & Senoh, Wataru & Shikishima, Chizuru, 2021. "Causal effects of family income on educational investment and child outcomes: Evidence from a policy reform in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    4. Bambang Budi Wiyono & Ach. Rasyad & Maisyaroh, 2021. "The Effect of Collaborative Supervision Approaches and Collegial Supervision Techniques on Teacher Intensity Using Performance-Based Learning," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    5. Shinsuke Asakawa & Fumio Ohtake, 2021. "Impact of Temporary School Closure Due to COVID-19 on the Academic Achievement of Elementary School Students," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 21-14, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    6. Oikawa, Masato & Tanaka, Ryuichi & Bessho, Shun-ichiro & Kawamura, Akira & Noguchi, Haruko, 2022. "Do Class Closures Affect Students' Achievements? Heterogeneous Effects of Students' Socioeconomic Backgrounds," IZA Discussion Papers 15751, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. ASAKAWA Shinsuke & OHTAKE Fumio, 2022. "Impact of COVID-19 School Closures on the Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills of Elementary School Students," Discussion papers 22075, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. OIKAWA Masato & TANAKA Ryuichi & BESSHO Shun-ichiro & KAWAMURA Akira & NOGUCHI Haruko, 2022. "Do Class Closures Affect Students' Achievements? Heterogeneous effects of students' socioeconomic backgrounds," Discussion papers 22042, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    2. Huebener, Mathias & Kuger, Susanne & Marcus, Jan, 2017. "Increased instruction hours and the widening gap in student performance," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47, pages 15-34.
    3. Oikawa, Masato & Tanaka, Ryuichi & Bessho, Shun-ichiro & Noguchi, Haruko, 2020. "Do Class Size Reductions Protect Students from Infectious Disease? Lessons for COVID-19 Policy from Flu Epidemic in Tokyo Metropolitan Area," IZA Discussion Papers 13432, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Barrios-Fernández, Andrés & Bovini, Giulia, 2021. "It’s time to learn: School institutions and returns to instruction time," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Ismael Sanz & J .D. Tenaa, 2020. "A Natural Experiment on the Effect of Instruction Time and Quality: Lessons for the Covid-19 Outbreak," Working Papers 202032, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    6. BAI Yu & TANAKA Ryuichi, 2024. "A Long-run Consequence of Relaxation-Oriented Education on Labor Market Performance," Discussion papers 24003, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Wedel, Katharina, 2021. "Instruction time and student achievement: The moderating role of teacher qualifications," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Thompson, Paul N., 2021. "Is four less than five? Effects of four-day school weeks on student achievement in Oregon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    9. Simon Briole, 2019. "From Teacher Quality to Teaching Quality: Instructional Productivity and Teaching Practices in the US," Working Papers halshs-01993616, HAL.
    10. Sancassani, Pietro, 2023. "The effect of teacher subject-specific qualifications on student science achievement," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    11. José M. Cordero & Víctor Cristóbal & Daniel Santín, 2018. "Causal Inference On Education Policies: A Survey Of Empirical Studies Using Pisa, Timss And Pirls," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 878-915, July.
    12. Bingley, Paul & Heinesen, Eskil & Krassel, Karl Fritjof & Kristensen, Nicolai, 2018. "The Timing of Instruction Time: Accumulated Hours, Timing and Pupil Achievement," IZA Discussion Papers 11807, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Battistin, Erich & Meroni, Elena Claudia, 2016. "Should we increase instruction time in low achieving schools? Evidence from Southern Italy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 39-56.
    14. Martin Fischer & Martin Karlsson & Therese Nilsson & Nina Schwarz, 2020. "The Long-Term Effects of Long Terms – Compulsory Schooling Reforms in Sweden," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(6), pages 2776-2823.
    15. Jo Blanden & Matthias Doepke & Jan Stuhler, 2022. "Education inequality," CEP Discussion Papers dp1849, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    16. Huebener, Mathias & Marcus, Jan, 2017. "Compressing instruction time into fewer years of schooling and the impact on student performance," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 58, pages 1-14.
    17. Fischer, Martin & Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese & Schwarz, Nina, 2016. "The Sooner the Better? Compulsory Schooling Reforms in Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 10430, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Metzler, Johannes & Woessmann, Ludger, 2012. "The impact of teacher subject knowledge on student achievement: Evidence from within-teacher within-student variation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 486-496.
    19. Marc Piopiunik, 2011. "Microeconometric Analyses of Education Production in Germany," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 40.
    20. Vincenzo Andrietti & Xuejuan Su, 2019. "The Impact of Schooling Intensity on Student Learning: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(4), pages 679-701, Fall.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education policy; Instruction time; Quality of instruction; Test score; Japanese curriculum standards revision; Fixed effects; TIMSS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:japwor:v:52:y:2019:i:c:s0922142519300040. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505557 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.