School district size and student educational attainment: evidence from Denmark

This paper analyses the effects of the size of school districts on educational attainment of students after compulsory school in Denmark. Using administrative microdata for individual students and their parents, logit models for the probability of obtaining different levels of education are estimated where the explanatory variables include district size, per student expenditure, and a wide range of controls for family background and district socioeconomic characteristics. It is found that attending schools in districts with a population of less than 15,000 (corresponding to less than 1800 students in public primary and lower secondary schools) has negative effects on educational attainment later in life: The probability of completing a secondary education (upper secondary school or vocational education) or a further or higher education is reduced by approximately 3 percentage points compared to having attended primary and lower secondary school in a district with more than 15,000 inhabitants.     

Educational attainment of children of immigrants: Evidence from the national longitudinal survey of youth

This study investigates the educational attainment of children of immigrants in the United States. By employing a more detailed classification of children of immigrants, we examine whether a foreign place of birth of either parent or child affects the child's educational attainment. Our results indicate that the full-second generation (U.S.-born children with both foreign-born parents) achieves the highest educational attainment, while the full-first generation (foreign-born children with both foreign-born parents) achieves the second highest educational attainment compared to the other groups of children of immigrants and native children. Full-first and full-second generation females also achieve higher educational attainment than their native female peers. The results support the optimism theory of assimilation in which the educational attainment of children of immigrants relies on the combination of their foreign-born parents’ strong values on education and the children's English proficiency.     

Does gender matter for the intergenerational transmission of education? Evidence from rural China

Many studies have examined whether children’s gender influences their educational attainment. However, there are limited studies on both the impact of parents’ education on children’s education and the educational gender gap in rural China. This paper investigates the impact of parents’ education on their children’s education from a gender perspective in rural China using comprehensive rural household data. We find that the educational gender gap in rural China has been decreasing over the last several decades. Moreover, the educational gender gap decreases as parents’ education increases. Parents’ initial educational attainment plays an important role in narrowing the educational gender gap.     

Birth order,family size and educational attainment

This paper investigates the effect of family size and birth order on educational attainment. An instrumental variables approach is used to identify the effect of family size. Instruments for the number of children are twins at last birth and the sex mix of the first two children. The effect of birth order is identified, by examining the relation with years of education for different family sizes separately. No significant effect of family size on educational attainment of the oldest child is found. Birth order has a significant negative effect. Potential mechanisms behind the birth order effects are investigated. The results show that birth order effects are not affected by the average age gap between children. Information on financial transfers shows that earlier born children have a higher probability of receiving money from their parents than later born children, also the amount they receive is higher. These results indicate that the allocation of parental resources is a potential mechanism behind the birth order effects.     

Parental aspirations for their children's educational attainment and the realisation of universal primary education (UPE) in Kenya: Evidence from slum and non-slum residences

There is a sound research base attesting to the importance of parental involvement and to the many potential benefits it can offer for children's education. This study sought to examine differences in parental aspirations (as a mechanism of parental involvement in their children's education) for their children's educational attainment between slum and non-slum residing parents in Kenya. The study used cross-sectional household data for a sample of 4065 parents, collected in 2007 by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) in Nairobi. A multinomial logistic model was used for the analysis to explore the factors determining parental aspirations. The results indicate the following: (i) that parents who live in the slums have lower aspirations for their children's educational attainment when compared to those who live in non-slum areas; (ii) that parents in the slums have aspirations for higher levels of educational attainment for their children than their own levels of education. We conclude that parents in urban Kenya have a strong belief in the education of their children irrespective of their slum or non-slum residence but aspirations are higher in non-slums than in slums.     

Intergenerational correlations in educational attainment: Birth order and family size effects using Canadian data

We exploit the 1986, 1994, and 2001 waves of the Canadian general social surveys in order to estimate intergenerational correlations in education. The use of these specific data is important because of available information on the final educational attainment of survey respondents and both parents, as well as family size and birth order. OLS estimates reveal that: (1) relying exclusively on maternal schooling to capture the effects of parental education results in coefficient estimates that are biased upwards; (2) children born to parents with some post-secondary schooling are more likely to attain similar education levels than children born to parents with lower educational accomplishment; (3) in most specifications coefficient estimates of paternal schooling are greater in magnitude than maternal accomplishment; and finally, (4) coefficient estimates of the number of siblings are consistently negative and significant even after the inclusion of birth order effects, implying that a larger family is correlated with a reduced likelihood of post-secondary education.     

The Role of School Exclusion Processes in the Re-Production of Social and Educational Disadvantage

ABSTRACT

English education policy has increasingly focused on the need to intervene in an intergenerational cycle of poverty and low attainment. The accompanying policy discourse has tended to emphasise the impact of family background on educational outcomes. However, as the capacity of parents to secure positive educational outcomes for their children is closely linked to the quality of their own education, low attainment is rather more closely connected to what happens in schools than this focus suggests. Pupils from groups known to be at increased risk of low attainment are also known to be at increased risk of involvement in the disciplinary processes of schools. This paper draws on the findings of a small-scale qualitative study to highlight some of the limitations in the educational provision accessed by Secondary age pupils involved in school exclusion processes. The assumptions and tensions at practice level that underpinned this provision are also discussed. In the conclusion it is argued that a much stronger focus on the learning of these pupils could improve their attainment and contribute to a reduction in social and educational inequalities in the future.     

Sibship composition,birth order and education: Evidence from Vietnam

This paper examines the effects of sibship composition and birth order on the school enrolment and educational attainment of children, using data from the Vietnam Population and Housing Census 2009. Utilizing an instrumental variable estimation method to address the endogeneity of sibship size, we find that it has a significant, negative effect on child education. Examining the impact of sibling sex composition, we find that having an additional boy lowers children’s average educational attainment for both girls and boys. We establish that birth order has a significant, negative effect on child educational attainment, although that effect seems to vanish with the youngest sibling. Our findings have several policy implications. First, the negative effect of sibship size on education implies that Vietnam’s lower fertility rate, the result of family planning policy during the 1990s and 2000s, may contribute to its remarkable educational achievements. Second, we find that birth order and sibling sex composition are more important than sibship size in children’s educational outcomes. As parents disproportionately allocate more resources for boys and earlier born children, government-targeted programs should tackle those issues to provide equal school opportunities for all children.     

Do school entry laws affect educational attainment and labor market outcomes?

Age based school entry laws force parents and educators to consider an important tradeoff: though students who are the youngest in their school cohort typically have poorer academic performance, on average, they have slightly higher educational attainment. In this paper we document that for a large cohort of California and Texas natives the school entry laws increased educational attainment of students who enter school early, but also lowered their academic performance while in school. However, we find no evidence that the age at which children enter school effects job market outcomes, such as wages or the probability of employment. This suggests that the net effect on adult labor market outcomes of the increased educational attainment and poorer academic performance is close to zero.     

家长教育政策了解度与子女教育获得——基于课外补习的中介效应分析

家长教育政策了解度作为一项重要的教育素养,对完善家庭教育体系有着重要的意义。文章运用描述统计和结构方程的方法得出,目前家长教育政策了解度处在较低水平;家长教育政策了解度与子女教育获得呈显著正相关;课外补习在家长教育政策了解度与学生成绩间起中介作用;课外补习在中考政策了解度的中介效应高于高考政策和“双一流”政策。政府应从完善教育政策宣传路径,提升家长教育政策了解度;引导家长合理参与补习教育,制定低产阶层参与补习的帮扶机制;优化义务教育阶段资源配置,加快推动考试改革等方面提升家长教育政策认知度及教育获得感。     

Wilderness Schooling: A controlled trial of the impact of an outdoor education programme on attainment outcomes in primary school pupils

Gaps in education attainment between high and low achieving children in the primary school years are frequently evidenced in educational reports. Linked to social disadvantage, these gaps have detrimental long‐term effects on learning. There is a need to close the gap in attainment by addressing barriers to learning and offering alternative contexts for education. There is increasing evidence for beneficial impacts of education delivered outdoors, yet most programmes are un‐structured, and evidence is anecdotal and lacks experimental rigour. In addition, there is a wealth of social‐emotional outcomes reported yet little in the way of educational attainment outcomes. The current study explores the educational impact of a structured curriculum‐based outdoor learning programme for primary school children: ‘Wilderness Schooling’. A matched‐groups design: Wilderness Schooling (n=223) and conventional schooling (n=217), was used to compare attainment data in English reading, English writing and maths, collected at three time‐points: Pre‐ (T1) and post‐intervention (T2) and at a 6‐week follow up (T3). Data show that children in the Wilderness Schooling group significantly improved their attainment in all three subjects compared to controls. Trajectories of impact indicated attainment continued to increase from baseline in the following weeks after the intervention concluded. These results allow the case to be made for the core curriculum to be conducted outdoors to improve children's learning. However, it is important to consider that there are likely to be various components of the intervention that could form a theory of change essential to reported outcomes.     

Veränderungen in der sozialen und ethnischen Zusammensetzung der Schülerschaft aus demografischer Perspektive

In this paper, we examine current changes in the ethnic and social composition of the preschool and school aged population as well as the consequences these changes may have for educational participation and thus for overall educational attainment in the near future. Based on the micro-census 2008 survey, we identify groups of migrants by region of parents’ origin where children – despite low levels of parents’ education and comparatively few socioeconomic resources – have greater chances of upward educational mobility than non-migrant children. By contrast, children from less educated, nonmigrant families show a much lower tendency to be upwardly mobile, and educational choices are more closely tied to the economic and social background. Thus, our analysis provides evidence that educational background and socio-economic resources in the students’ families are of greater importance for the overall development of educational attainment in Germany than characteristics of migration and ethnicity.     

The effect of social programs and exposure to professionals on the educational aspirations of the poor

Investment in human capital is an important tool for reducing poverty. However, the poor may lack the capacity to aspire, which often results in underinvestment in their children's education. This paper studies the effect of a social program on the educational aspirations poor parents have for their children, and explores the role of exposure to educated professionals as a possible channel for increasing these aspirations. First, using differences-in-differences, we show that the Mexican antipoverty program PROGRESA raises the educational aspirations of beneficiary parents for their children of a third of a school year. Then, exploiting PROGRESA's mandated differential exposure to professionals, using triple differences, we find evidence suggesting that educational aspirations for children from high-exposure households are almost half of a school year higher six months after the start of the program. Finally, we show that there is a positive correlation between parental aspirations and children's educational attainment.     

Compulsory schooling,education, depression and memory: New evidence from SHARELIFE

In this paper we provide new evidence on the causal effect of education on adult depression and cognition. We use SHARE data and schooling reforms in several European countries as instruments for educational attainment. We find that an extra year of education has a large and significant protective effect on mental health; the probability of suffering depression decreases by 6.5 percentage points. We find a large and significant protective effect on cognition as measured by word recall. We also explore whether heterogeneity and selection play a part in the large discrepancy between OLS and IV (LATE) estimates of the effect of education on depression and cognition. Using the data available in SHARELIFE on early life conditions of the respondents such as the individuals’ socioeconomic status, health, and performance at school, we identify subgroups particularly affected by the reforms and with high marginal health returns to education.     

Higher education and fertility: Evidence from reforms in Greece

This paper examines the impact of higher education on women’s fertility decisions. To address the endogeneity of non-compulsory education participation, I focus on an increase in the supply of higher education and a concurrent schooling reform that jointly expanded higher education opportunities in Greece in year 2000. Drawing data from the 10% sample of the 2011 Population Census, I use the exogenous variation introduced by the first grade enrollment age cutoff to apply a Regression Discontinuity Design comparing educational attainment and fertility for women that were just, and just not exposed to the reforms. The probability of giving birth before age 30 decreases by around 20 percentage points for women who completed higher education because they were exposed to the reforms. Career outcomes for employed women with higher education improve, while fertility decreases at ages following graduation, suggesting that the result is primarily driven by the increasing opportunity cost of children.     

The early academic progress of children with special educational needs

Children with special educational needs (SEN) are known to experience lower average educational attainment than other children during their school years. But we have less insight into how far their poorer educational outcomes stem from their original starting points or from failure to progress during school. The extent to which early identification with SEN delivers support that enables children who are struggling academically to make appropriate progress is subject to debate. This is complicated by the fact that children with SEN are more likely to be growing up in disadvantaged families and face greater levels of behavioural and peer problems, factors which themselves impact attainment and progress through school. In this paper, we evaluate the academic progress of children with SEN in England, drawing on a large‐scale nationally representative longitudinal UK study, the Millennium Cohort Study, linked to administrative records of pupil attainment. Controlling for key child, family and environmental factors, and using the SEN categories employed at the time of data collection, we first establish that children identified with SEN in 2008, when they were age 7, had been assessed with lower academic competence when they started school. We evaluate their progress between ages 5–7 and 7–11. We found that children identified with SEN at age 7 tended to be those who had made less progress between ages 5 and 7 than their comparable peers. However, children with SEN continued to make less progress than their similarly able peers between ages 7 and 11. Implications are discussed.     

Religiosity,the headscarf,and education in Turkey: an analysis of 1988 data and current implications

Previous research highlights the continuing relevance of family culture in explaining educational inequalities in Turkey, especially patriarchal beliefs and practices that discourage investment in the education of girls. We extend that research by introducing two much‐debated, but empirically untested, aspects of family culture – parental religiosity and headscarf preferences. An analysis of a nationally representative sample of 15–19 year olds in 1988 shows that while religiosity had no significant effect on educational attainment, children who lived in families whose fathers expected them to wear a headscarf in public had lower educational attainment, especially girls. The large negative headscarf effect suggests that the government ban on headscarves in schools may be an obstacle to eliminating gender inequality in education. The results are discussed in light of recent trends in Turkish society.     

Increasing educational attainment in Egypt: The impact of early childhood care and education

This paper investigates the impact of early childhood care and education on subsequent educational attainment in Egypt. Comparisons between siblings are used to control for selection and duration analysis methods are used to account for the presence of current students in the data. These methods are compared to OLS to demonstrate the importance of accounting for both observed and unobserved heterogeneity and for students who have not yet completed their schooling. Early childhood care and education significantly reduces the probability of dropping out, specifically during basic education. The change in educational attainment from early childhood care and education is approximately one additional year of schooling. Key pathways for this effect include improved school performance, such as increases in test scores and decreases in repetition, during basic education. Results indicate expanding early childhood care and education would be an important and effective policy for improving educational outcomes.     

The influence of closing poor performing primary schools on the educational attainment of students

This paper examines whether the closure of poor performing primary schools improved students' educational attainment. It is believed that school closure affects children's educational outcomes positively because children switch to better primary schools. At the same time, school closure creates a social disturbance such that educational outcomes may be affected negatively. There is no previous literature on the effect of this type of school closure on student performance. The empirical results indicate that student test scores are not affected by the school closure. Children are, however, tracked into higher secondary education levels after the school closure if they received more education years at the new primary school. This effect fades out and eventually becomes negative for children who received more than one education year at the new primary school. The results further suggest that there are no detrimental effects of a school closure in terms of educational performance.     

The Effects of the Occupations of Working Mothers on the Educational Inequality

ABSTRACT

Working mothers with children of school age are a recent phenomenon in the Netherlands, but are more common in other European societies. The social and scientific significance of this work for life chances in general and for educational inequality in particular is still not clear and subject of heated debate. In this article the effects of paid work outside the home by the mother and of the level of her work on her child's educational attainment at the end of primary school are estimated with ANOVA and LISREL for the most recent nationally representative cohort of Dutch primary school‐leavers in the late 1980s (the VOCL‐'89 cohort), controlling for other characteristics of the mother, her household, husband and children. The study is a follow‐up of a comparable analysis of an older cohort of Dutch primary school‐leavers in the late 1970s. The results of this most recent analysis show that the dilemma between working outside the home and working as a housewife is a false one. The central question for the educational chances of a child is not whether its mother works or not, but the level of her work. Working in labouring jobs has a negative effect on children's educational attainment compared to working as a housewife; this in contrast to the positive effects of working as a shopkeeper, farmer or employee. This also holds after controlling for all other relevant characteristics. These effects are substantial and cannot be explained by other characteristics. However, the effects are not similar to the effects of the level of her husband's job on the educational attainment of their children. This means that the conventional as well as the radical view must be replaced by a more moderate one. This also means that in order to get an accurate estimation, the mother's job has to be included in any measurement of parental class of pupils. The effects of the level of the mother's job on the educational attainment of her children do not differ between boys and girls. These results neither confirm suggestions of the model‐function of working mothers for their daughters, nor suggestions of the need of boys to be controlled by a mother at home. The effects of the level of the mother's job also do not differ between ethnic groups. The last two results are contrary to some results from the USA. In this article the effects of the mother's job on her children's educational attainment in a nationally representative cohort of the late ‘70s (the SMVO cohort) are compared to those of this recent VOCL‐'89 cohort. Despite the growth in the percentage of working mothers during the ‘70s and ‘80s in the Netherlands (mostly part‐time jobs) the effect of the level of the mother's job did not change. A possible consequence of these results is that a general change of the tax and wages system from one based on households with one wage‐earner to one based on individuals might be detrimental to families of parents with a low educational level, who are limited to less qualified jobs.