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No student left behind? Evidence from the Programme for School Guidance in Spain

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  • J. Ignacio Garcia-Perez
  • Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effects of a remedial education programme implemented in Spain between 2005 and 2012 that o¤ered after-school classes for underperforming students from poor socioeconomic backgrounds. We use two different estimation strategies, re-weighting estimators and propensity score matching, and address the existence of selection bias. We find that this programme had a substantial positive e¤ect on children's academic achievement: the probability of falling behind the general progress of the group declined by approximately 5% and mean reading scores increased by approximately 10% of one standard deviation. We also find that a larger exposure to the programme improves students' scores: whereas students in schools that participated in the programme for at most two years do not experience any significant positive effect, those in schools that participated for at least three years did. The programme significantly reduced the probability of belonging to the bottom part of the distribution (by approximately 7.5%) and improved mean scores (by approximately 18% of one standard deviation). Finally, we find that the impact of the programme is much stronger for students in rural schools than for students in urban schools.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Ignacio Garcia-Perez & Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo, 2016. "No student left behind? Evidence from the Programme for School Guidance in Spain," Policy Papers 2016-20, FEDEA.
    • Handle: RePEc:fda:fdapop:2016-20
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lo que debería preocuparnos de PISA
      by María Ramos in Politikon on 2016-12-13 15:21:00

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    2. Giorgio Vittadini & Giuseppe Folloni & Caterina Sturaro, 2022. "The Development of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills in Students in the Autonomous Province of Trento," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Battaglia, Marianna & Lebedinski, Lara, 2022. "With a little help from my friends: Medium-Term effects of a remedial education program targeting Roma minority," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    4. Marianna Battaglia & Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo, 2020. "Non-Cognitive Skills and Remedial Education: Good News for Girls," Working Papers 20.10, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    5. De Benedetto, Marco Alberto & De Paola, Maria & Scoppa, Vincenzo & Smirnova, Janna, 2022. "The long-run effects of college remedial education," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    6. Oriol Pons & Saeid Habibi & Diana Peña, 2018. "Sustainability Assessment of Household Waste Based Solar Control Devices for Workshops in Primary Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, November.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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