Do Funds for More Teachers Improve Student Outcomes?

54 Pages Posted: 26 May 2022

See all articles by Nicolai T. Borgen

Nicolai T. Borgen

University of Oslo

Lars J. Kirkebøen

Statistics Norway

Andreas Kotsadam

University of Oslo - Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research

Oddbjorn Raaum

University of Oslo - Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research

Date Written: 2022

Abstract

We investigate the effects of a large-scale Norwegian reform that provided extra teachers to 166 lower secondary schools with relatively high student-teacher ratios and low average grades. We exploit these two margins using a regression discontinuity setup and find that the reform reduced the student-teacher ratio by around 10% (from a base level of 22 students per teacher), with no crowding out of other school resources or parental support. However, the reform did not improve test scores and longer-term academic outcomes, and we can reject even small positive effects. We do find that the reform improved the school environment from the students’ perspective, but with the largest impact on aspects most weakly associated with better academic outcomes.

Keywords: student-teacher-ratio, class size, test scores, non-cognitive skills, RDD

JEL Classification: J240, I200

Suggested Citation

Borgen, Nicolai T. and Kirkebøen, Lars J. and Kotsadam, Andreas and Raaum, Oddbjørn, Do Funds for More Teachers Improve Student Outcomes? (2022). CESifo Working Paper No. 9756, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4120148 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4120148

Nicolai T. Borgen (Contact Author)

University of Oslo ( email )

PO Box 6706 St Olavs plass
Oslo, N-0317
Norway

Lars J. Kirkebøen

Statistics Norway ( email )

N-0033 Oslo
Norway

Andreas Kotsadam

University of Oslo - Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research ( email )

Gaustadalleen 21
N-0317 Oslo
Norway

Oddbjørn Raaum

University of Oslo - Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research ( email )

Gaustadalleen 21
N-0317 Oslo
Norway

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