Ranking Schools: A Step Toward Increased Accountability or a Mere Discriminatory
Practice?
Ana Balcão Reis
New University of Lisbon - Faculdade de Economia
Carmo Seabra
affiliation not provided to SSRN
Luis C. Nunes
Universidade Nova de Lisboa - Faculdade de Economia
August 6, 2012
FEUNL Working Paper No. 567
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion of the effects of published school rankings based on average scores obtained by students on national exams. We study the effectiveness of this (low-stakes) accountability mechanism; we analyze whether students react to these rankings, by moving in or out of high-schools according to their scores and examine the movements of closing of schools. Our results suggest that families react strongly to published rankings. We also look at the changes in the socio-economic background of students of poorly performing schools in order to evaluate whether the publication of rankings has increased inequality, as feared by many observers. According to our results, published rankings do in fact reinforce stratification by income.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 17
Keywords: school accountability, school rankings
JEL Classification: I21, I28, H42
working papers series
Suggested Citation
Reis, Ana Balcão Balcao, Seabra, Carmo and Nunes, Luis C., Ranking Schools: A Step Toward Increased Accountability or a Mere Discriminatory
Practice? (August 6, 2012). FEUNL Working Paper No. 567. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2124926 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2124926
