Absolute effects of schooling as a reference for the interpretation of educational intervention effects. (December 2020) - Luyten, Hans
Highlights: Regression discontinuity was used to assessed effects of one year schooling. Conventional guidelines for evaluating educational interventions are overly ambitious. Schooling accounts for less than half the growth in reading and math at age 7−10. Effect sizes for the effect of schooling over one year in primary education from .13 to .42. Abstract: Knowledge of the absolute effects of schooling provides a useful reference for the interpretation of the effectiveness of educational interventions. We use discontinuities in test scores between the oldest pupils in one birth cohort and the youngest in the next to assess the absolute effects of schooling. Our study includes 90 % of all pupils in year-groups 4–6 of primary education (ages 7–10) in Northern Ireland. Assignment to year-groups is strictly determined by date of birth in Northern Ireland. This creates a situation which parallels randomized controlled experimentation. The findings support the view that the guidelines suggested by Cohen (in 1969) may be overly ambitious when evaluating the effectiveness of educational interventions.