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The impact of the specialist schools programme on exam results

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  • J Taylor

Abstract

The Government and its agencies have seriously overestimated the impact of the specialist schools programme on educational attainment. The substantially higher exam scores achieved on average by schools with specialist status are due primarily to sample selection bias and not to any benefits flowing from subject specialisation itself. A fixed effects model is used on the panel of maintained secondary schools in England covering the period 1992-2005 to obtain this result. It is found, however, that the specialist schools programme has had beneficial distributional consequences. There is evidence that schools with the highest proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals have experienced by far the biggest improvement in exam results as a consequence of acquiring specialist status.

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  • J Taylor, 2007. "The impact of the specialist schools programme on exam results," Working Papers 582526, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:lan:wpaper:582526
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Jenkins & Rosalind Levacic, 2004. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Specialist Schools," CEE Discussion Papers 0038, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE.
    2. Jim Taylor & Anh Ngoc Nguyen, 2006. "An Analysis of the Value Added by Secondary Schools in England: Is the Value Added Indicator of Any Value?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 68(2), pages 203-224, April.
    3. Harvey Goldstein & David J. Spiegelhalter, 1996. "League Tables and Their Limitations: Statistical Issues in Comparisons of Institutional Performance," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 159(3), pages 385-409, May.
    4. repec:lan:wpaper:977 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Jim Taylor, 2007. "Estimating the Impact of the Specialist Schools Programme on Secondary School Examination Results in England," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(4), pages 445-471, August.
    6. Harvey Goldstein & Sally Thomas, 1996. "Using Examination Results as Indicators of School and College Performance," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 159(1), pages 149-163, January.
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    3. Steve Bradley & Giuseppe Migali, 2014. "The Effects of the Specialist Schools Education Policy on School and Post-School Outcomes in England," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(4), pages 449-465, December.

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