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Resources and Standards in Urban Schools

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  • Stephen Machin
  • Sandra McNally
  • Costas Meghir

Abstract

Despite being central to education policy, there remains significant debate about the extent to which resources matter for pupil outcomes. We consider this in the context of an English policy initiative aimed at inner-city secondary schools. Results show a positive impact on school attendance and performance in mathematics. There is marked heterogeneity, with the greatest positive impact in the more disadvantaged schools and on students of middle/high ability within these schools. We conclude that additional resources can matter for children in the poorest schools. However, small changes in resources have little effect on "hard-to-reach" children.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jhucap:doi:10.1086/658634
    DOI: 10.1086/658634
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    Cited by:

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    2. Gjefsen, Hege Marie, 2020. "Wages, teacher recruitment, and student achievement," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2010. "Longer-Term Impacts of Mentoring, Educational Services, and Incentives to Learn: Evidence from a Randomized Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 4754, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Fanny Alivon, 2021. "Lieu de résidence et parcours scolaire des collégiens d’Île-de-France," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 72(5), pages 749-784.
    5. Marina Bassi & Costas Meghir & Ana Reynoso, 2020. "Education Quality and Teaching Practices," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(631), pages 1937-1965.
    6. Steve Bradley & Jim Taylor, 2010. "Diversity, Choice and the Quasi‐market: An Empirical Analysis of Secondary Education Policy in England," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(1), pages 1-26, February.
    7. Monique De Haan, 2017. "The Effect of Additional Funds for Low‐ability Pupils: A Non‐parametric Bounds Analysis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(599), pages 177-198, February.
    8. Stephen Gibbons & Sandra McNally & Martina Viarengo, 2018. "Does Additional Spending Help Urban Schools? An Evaluation Using Boundary Discontinuities," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(5), pages 1618-1668.
    9. Helena Holmlund & Olmo Silva, 2014. "Targeting Noncognitive Skills to Improve Cognitive Outcomes: Evidence from a Remedial Education Intervention," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(2), pages 126-160.
    10. Gibbons, Stephen & Machin, Stephen & Silva, Olmo, 2013. "Valuing school quality using boundary discontinuity," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 45246, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. J Taylor & S Bradley & G Migali, 2009. "The distributional impact of increased school resources: the Specialist Schools Initiative and the Excellence in Cities Programme," Working Papers 602528, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    12. Gibbons, Stephen & Machin, Stephen & Silva, Olmo, 2013. "Valuing school quality using boundary discontinuities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 15-28.
    13. Robert Cassen & Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 2007. "Understanding low achievement in English schools," CASE Papers case118, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    14. Nerea Gómez-Fernández & Mauro Mediavilla, 2018. "Do information and communication technologies (ICT) improve educational outcomes? Evidence for Spain in PISA 2015," Working Papers 2018/20, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    15. Machin, Stephen & Wyness, Gill & McNally, Sandra, 2013. "Education in a devolved Scotland: a quantitative analysis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57971, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Rafael De Hoyos & Orazio Attanasio & Costas Meghir, 2019. "Targeting High School Scholarships to the Poor: The Impact of a Program in Mexico," NBER Working Papers 26023, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Meg Elkins & Simon Feeny & David Prentice, 2015. "Do Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers reduce poverty and improve well-being?," Discussion Papers 15/02, University of Nottingham, School of Economics.
    18. Stephen Gibbons & Sandra McNally, 2013. "The Effects of Resources Across School Phases: A Summary of Recent Evidence," CEP Discussion Papers dp1226, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    19. Gómez-Fernández, Nerea & Mediavilla, Mauro, 2021. "Exploring the relationship between Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and academic performance: A multilevel analysis for Spain," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    20. Daniel Gladwell & Gurleen Popli & Aki Tsuchiya, 2022. "Predictors of becoming not in education, employment or training: A dynamic comparison of the direct and indirect determinants," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 185(S2), pages 485-514, December.
    21. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Nikhil Jha, 2016. "Educational Achievement and the Allocation of School Resources," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 49(3), pages 251-271, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • C52 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection

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