Does school accountability pressure improve school quality?

This dissertation evaluates the impact of accountability pressure on a context where there is school choice. The Chilean context provides a unique opportunity for this purpose since it constitutes a system with school choice since the 1980s and since 2008 there is a policy that introduces a means-tested voucher that introduces incentives to schools to improve their performance. Under this policy, schools are classified based on students’ test scores and other school factors (such as teacher evaluations, approval rates, retention rates), and are linked to punishments and rewards. I assess the impact of accountability pressure on outcomes that have consequences attached (high-stakes outcomes), and other outcomes that may reflect the quality of the school but do not have direct consequences attached (low-stakes outcomes). I use a fuzzy regression discontinuity to estimate the effect of receiving different school classifications on high-stakes test scores, low-stakes test scores, school behavioral responses, and student and teacher body composition. Estimates of the effects on 4th and 8th grade math, language and science are never significantly different from zero. There is also no evidence of parental or teacher response

Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Interventions that Improve High School Completion

This report demonstrates the methods of cost-effectiveness analysis as applied to several educational programs that have been shown to improve the rate of high school completion

Improving Early Literacy: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Effective Reading Programs

This study is a cost-effectiveness analysis of seven early literacy programs that have all been previously identified as effective at improving reading outcomes for students in Grades K-3. We use the ingredients method to collect cost data for each program and compare the cost-effectiveness of programs serving students in the same grade level

Does educational privatisation promote social justice?

Social justice in education refers to the expectation that the education system provides fairness in its access to opportunities and results. Proponents of educational privatisation believe this would not only open up opportunities for those that otherwise are restricted from attending good schools, but that it would also improve overall efficiency in the education system through pressures of market competition. This article first provides a framework for analysing a quasi-market in education and for considering the potential effects of privatisation. It then applies this framework to the Netherlands, a school system premised completely on choice where two thirds of the schools are privately sponsored. We conclude that the Dutch system, thanks to a series of policies and regulations in place, performs relatively well on social justice, when looking at freedom of choice and overall productive efficiency. However, for equity and social cohesion, despite clear policy efforts, the privatised system seems to undermine social justice for certain groups in the population. The dilemma observed here is that some private benefits of education must be compromised to achieve greater equity and social cohesion. It is an open question whether policy makers are willing to make such tradeoffs