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Grouping by Achievement: The Importance of Ordinal Rank and Tutors’ Instructional Practices Evidence from a Large Norwegian Field Experiment

Author

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  • Hans Bonesrønning
  • Jon Marius

Abstract

We use data from a Norwegian field experiment where young students were taught mathematics in small, homogenous groups to investigate how treatment effects varied across middle-achieving students dependent on their rank order and their tutors’ instructional practices. We find that individuals from the second and fourth quintiles in the pretest score distribution who were placed in groups with lower (higher) ranked students experienced substantially lower (higher) treatment effects than students who were placed in groups with students from the same quintile as themselves. These effects were somewhat modified by the tutors’ instructional practices. Students in the third quintile were unaffected by their within-group rank.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Bonesrønning & Jon Marius, 2025. "Grouping by Achievement: The Importance of Ordinal Rank and Tutors’ Instructional Practices Evidence from a Large Norwegian Field Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 12153, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12153
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pedro Carneiro & Yyannu Cruz-Aguayo & Francesca Salvati & Norbert Schady, 2025. "The Effect of Classroom Rank on Learning throughout Elementary School: Experimental Evidence from Ecuador," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 433-466.
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    5. Kamei, Kenju & Ashworth, John, 2023. "Peer learning in teams and work performance: Evidence from a randomized field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 413-432.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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