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Expanding School Resources and Increasing Time on Task: Effects of a Policy Experiment in Israel on Student Academic Achievement and Behavior

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  • Victor Lavy

Abstract

This paper uses a natural experiment in Israel to assess the impact of school teaching resources and how it is used, ‘time-on-task’, on academic achievements and non-cognitive outcomes. It exploits variation induced by a change in the funding formula that reduced instructional resources funding for some schools and increased them for others. The results suggest that increased school resources and students' spending more time at school and on key tasks all lead to increased academic achievements with no behavioral costs. Separate estimations of the effect of increasing subject-specific instructional time per week also show positive and significant effects on math, science, and English test scores. However, there are no cross effects of additional instructional time across subjects. This evidence is robust to using different identification strategies. The evidence also shows that a longer school week increases the time that students spend on homework without reducing social and school satisfaction and without increasing school violence.

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  • Victor Lavy, 2012. "Expanding School Resources and Increasing Time on Task: Effects of a Policy Experiment in Israel on Student Academic Achievement and Behavior," NBER Working Papers 18369, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18369
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    2. Steve Bradley & Giuseppe Migali & Jim Taylor, 2013. "Funding, School Specialization, and Test Scores: An Evaluation of the Specialist Schools Policy Using Matching Models," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(1), pages 76-106.
    3. Huebener, Mathias & Kuger, Susanne & Marcus, Jan, 2017. "Increased instruction hours and the widening gap in student performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 15-34.
    4. OIKAWA Masato & TANAKA Ryuichi & BESSHO Shun-ichiro & KAWAMURA Akira & NOGUCHI Haruko, 2022. "Do Class Closures Affect Students' Achievements? Heterogeneous effects of students' socioeconomic backgrounds," Discussion papers 22042, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    5. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy & Jetson Leder-Luis & Adi Shany, 2019. "Maimonides' Rule Redux," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 1(3), pages 309-324, December.
    6. Nandrup, Anne Brink, 2017. "On the importance of school-based inputs in the production of student achievement: Evidence in a recent Scandinavian context," Nationaløkonomisk tidsskrift, Nationaløkonomisk Forening, vol. 2017(1), pages 1-22.
    7. Kawin Thamtanajit, 2022. "Prolonged Protests and Student Achievement: Evidence from Political Unrest in Thailand," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 226-250, April.
    8. Maria A. Cattaneo & Chantal Oggenfuss & Stefan C. Wolter, 2017. "The more, the better? The impact of instructional time on student performance," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 433-445, September.
    9. Simon Briole, 2019. "From Teacher Quality to Teaching Quality: Instructional Productivity and Teaching Practices in the US," PSE Working Papers halshs-01993616, HAL.
    10. Dörsam, Michael & Lauber, Verena, 2015. "The Effect of a Compressed High School Curriculum on University Grades: DiD-Evidence From a German Policy Shift," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112876, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Joshua Goodman, 2014. "Flaking Out: Student Absences and Snow Days as Disruptions of Instructional Time," NBER Working Papers 20221, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Katharina Wedel, 2021. "Instruction Time and Student Achievement: The Moderating Role of Teacher Qualifications," ifo Working Paper Series 344, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    13. Kamhöfer, Daniel A. & Cattan, Sarah & Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2015. "The Effects of Sickness Absence in School on Educational Achievements, Mortality and Income," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113180, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. Michael Doersam & Verena Lauber, 2019. "The Effect of a Compressed High School Curriculum on University Performance," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2019-03, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    15. Ismael Sanz & J .D. Tenaa, 2020. "A Natural Experiment on the Effect of Instruction Time and Quality: Lessons for the Covid-19 Outbreak," Working Papers 202032, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    16. Dörsam, Michael & Lauber, Verena, 2015. "The Effect of a Compressed High School Curriculum on University Performance," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 140876, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    17. Steven G. Rivkin & Jeffrey C. Schiman, 2015. "Instruction Time, Classroom Quality, and Academic Achievement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(588), pages 425-448, November.
    18. Elena Claudia Meroni & Giovanni Abbiati, 2014. "Gender differences in exposure to more instruction time. Evidence from Italy," Working Papers 064, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    19. 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.
    20. Oscar David Marcenaro‐Gutierrez & Luis Alejandro Lopez‐Agudo, 2020. "Does Teacher Subject Knowledge Contribute to Student Academic Performance in Developing and Least Developed Countries?," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 88(3), pages 267-297, September.
    21. Battistin, Erich & Meroni, Elena Claudia, 2016. "Should we increase instruction time in low achieving schools? Evidence from Southern Italy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 39-56.

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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