What Makes a Test Score? The Respective Contributions of Pupils, Schools, and Peers in Achievement in English Primary Education

52 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2008

See all articles by Francis Kramarz

Francis Kramarz

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - National School for Statistical and Economic Administration (ENSAE); National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST)

Stephen J. Machin

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP); London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Economics

Amine Charles-Louis Ouazad

HEC Montréal; Rutgers Business School

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Date Written: October 13, 2008

Abstract

This study develops an analytical framework for evaluating the respective contributions of pupils, peers, and school quality in affecting educational achievement. We implement this framework using rich data from England that matches pupils to their primary schools. The dataset records all English pupils and their test scores in Key Stage 1 (age 7) and Key Stage 2 (age 11) national examinations. The quality of the data source, coupled with our econometric techniques, allows us to assess the respective importance of different educational inputs. We can distinguish school effects, that affect all pupils irrespective of their year and grade of study, from school-grade-year effects. Identification of pupil effects separately from these school-grade-year effects is achieved because students are mobile across schools. Peer effects are identified assuming variations in school-grade-year group composition in adjacent years are exogenous. We estimate three different specifications, the most general allowing Key Stage 2 results to be affected by the Key Stage 1 school(-grade-year) at which the pupil studied. We discuss the validity of our various exogeneity assumptions. Estimation results show statistically significant pupil ability, school and peer effects. Our analysis suggests the following ranking: pupils' ability and background are more important than school time-invariant inputs. Peer effects are significant, but small.

Keywords: Education, Accountability, Inequalities, Fixed Effects, Peer Effects, School Quality, Early Education

Suggested Citation

Kramarz, Francis and Machin, Stephen J. and Ouazad, Amine Charles-Louis, What Makes a Test Score? The Respective Contributions of Pupils, Schools, and Peers in Achievement in English Primary Education (October 13, 2008). INSEAD Working Paper No. 2008/58/EPS, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1283643 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1283643

Francis Kramarz (Contact Author)

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - National School for Statistical and Economic Administration (ENSAE) ( email )

92245 Malakoff Cedex
France

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST)

15 Boulevard Gabriel Peri
Malakoff Cedex, 1 92245
France

Stephen J. Machin

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Economics ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

Amine Charles-Louis Ouazad

HEC Montréal ( email )

3000, ch. de la Côte-Ste-Catherine
Montréal, Quebec H3T 2A7
Canada

Rutgers Business School ( email )

111 Washington Avenue
Newark, NJ 07102
United States

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