IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v27y2008i3p253-265.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Where class size really matters: Class size and student ratings of instructor effectiveness

Author

Listed:
  • Bedard, Kelly
  • Kuhn, Peter

Abstract

We examine the impact of class size on student evaluations of instructor performance using data on all economics classes offered at the University of California, Santa Barbara from Fall 1997 to Spring 2004. A particular strength of this data is the opportunity to control for both instructor and course fixed effects. In contrast to the literature examining class size effects on test-based outcomes--where results can vary considerably across specifications--we find a large, highly significant, and nonlinear negative impact of class size on student evaluations of instructor effectiveness that is highly robust to the inclusion of course and instructor fixed effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Bedard, Kelly & Kuhn, Peter, 2008. "Where class size really matters: Class size and student ratings of instructor effectiveness," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 253-265, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:27:y:2008:i:3:p:253-265
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272-7757(07)00010-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan B. Krueger, 2003. "Economic Considerations and Class Size," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 34-63, February.
    2. Siegfried, John J & Kennedy, Peter E, 1995. "Does Pedagogy Vary with Class Size in Introductory Economics?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 347-351, May.
    3. Kennedy, Peter E. & Siegfried, John J., 1997. "Class size and achievement in introductory economics: Evidence from the TUCE III data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 385-394, October.
    4. Eric A. Hanushek, 2003. "The Failure of Input-Based Schooling Policies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 64-98, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mandel, Philipp & Süssmuth, Bernd, 2011. "Size matters. The relevance and Hicksian surplus of preferred college class size," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1073-1084, October.
    2. Kokkelenberg, Edward C. & Dillon, Michael & Christy, Sean M., 2008. "The effects of class size on student grades at a public university," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 221-233, April.
    3. Bourdon, Jean & Frölich, Markus & Michaelowa, Katharina, 2007. "Teacher Shortages, Teacher Contracts and their Impact on Education in Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 2844, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Gibbons, Stephen & Silva, Olmo, 2008. "Urban density and pupil attainment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 631-650, March.
    5. John Mutinda Mutiso & Prof. Maria Onyango & Dr. Michael Nyagol, 2015. "Effects of Funding Sources on Access to Quality Higher Education in Public Universities in Kenya: A Case Study," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 5(3), pages 68-81, March.
    6. Stephen Machin & Sandra McNally & Costas Meghir, 2010. "Resources and Standards in Urban Schools," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(4), pages 365-393.
    7. Maciej Jakubowski, 2007. "Efektywność wydatków na gimnazja," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 11-12, pages 85-113.
    8. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 679-741, Elsevier.
    9. Ludger Wößmann, 2006. "Bildungspolitische Lehren aus den internationalen Schülertests: Wettbewerb, Autonomie und externe Leistungsüberprüfung," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(3), pages 417-444, August.
    10. repec:zbw:rwidps:0023 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Masi, Barbara, 2018. "A ticket to ride: The unintended consequences of school transport subsidies," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 100-115.
    12. Fertig, Michael & Görlitz, Katja & Peistrup, Matthias & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Winter, Barbara & Grenzmann, Christoph & Kreuels, Bernd & Niehof, Britta & Engel, Dirk, 2010. "Innovationsbericht 2009: Zur Leistungsfähigkeit des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen in Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie. Endbericht - Januar 2010. Forschungsprojekt für das Ministerium für Innovatio," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 72605.
    13. Hægeland, Torbjørn & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2012. "Pennies from heaven? Using exogenous tax variation to identify effects of school resources on pupil achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 601-614.
    14. Eva Crespo-Cebada & Francisco Pedraja-Chaparro & Daniel Santín, 2014. "Does school ownership matter? An unbiased efficiency comparison for regions of Spain," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 153-172, February.
    15. Laurent Davezies & Manon Garrouste, 2020. "More Harm than Good?: Sorting Effects in a Compensatory Education Program," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(1), pages 240-277.
    16. Becker, William E. & Powers, John R., 2001. "Student performance, attrition, and class size given missing student data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 377-388, August.
    17. Gianna Barbieri & Piero Cipollone & Paolo Sestito, 2007. "Labour Market for Teachers: Demographic Characteristics and Allocative Mechanisms," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 66(3), pages 335-373, November.
    18. Carlsen, Fredrik & Langset, Bjørg & Rattsø, Jørn & Stambøl, Lasse, 2009. "Using survey data to study capitalization of local public services," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 688-695, November.
    19. Roger B. Butters & Carlos J. Asarta & Tammie J. Fischer, 2011. "Human Capital in The Classroom: The Role of Teacher Knowledge in Economic Literacy," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 56(2), pages 47-57, November.
    20. Adesoji O. Farayibi & Oludele Folarin, 2020. "Does Government Education Expenditure Affect Educational Outcomes? New Evidence from Sub-Sahara African Countries," Research Africa Network Working Papers 21/048, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    21. Niklas Jakobsson & Mattias Persson & Mikael Svensson, 2013. "Class-size effects on adolescents' mental health and well-being in Swedish schools," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 248-263, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:27:y:2008:i:3:p:253-265. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.