Class-Size Effects in School Systems Around the World: Evidence from Between-Grade Variation in TIMSS

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IZA Seminar

Place: Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 9, 53113 Bonn

Date: 04.02.2003, 12:00 - 13:30

   

Presentation by 

Ludger Woessmann (University of Munich)
   

Abstract:

We estimate the effect of class size on student performance in 18 countries, combining school fixed effects and instrumental variables to identify random class-size variation between two adjacent grades within individual schools. Conventional estimates of class-size effects are shown to be severely biased by the non-random placement of students between and within schools. While we find sizable beneficial effects of smaller classes in Greece and Iceland, we reject the possibility of even small effects in 6 countries and of large beneficial effects in an additional 5 countries. Noteworthy class-size effects are observed only in countries with relatively low teacher salaries.

   
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