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The impact of school facility expenditures on pupil attainment

Author

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  • Asma Benhenda

    (UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, University College London)

Abstract

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on June 29, 2020 a 10-year investment program for upgrades and refurbishments in English schools. This rebuilding programme is set to start in 2020-21 with the first 50 projects supported by £1 billion in funding. It aims at improving pupils' outcomes and reducing inequalities, as part of the government `levelling up' agenda. The Prime Minister said "as we bounce back from the pandemic, it’s important we lay the foundations for a country where everyone has the opportunity to succeed, with our younger generations front and centre of this mission". What impact can we expect on pupils' outcomes? This briefing note summarises the empirical evidence on the relationship between pupils’ outcomes and capital investment in schools. To what extent do better school facilities translate into better pupil outcomes? First, it examines the recent international evidence, mostly focused on the United States, which finds, overall, positive effects. Second, it highlights the lack of evidence on school rebuilding and refurbishing programmes in England.

Suggested Citation

  • Asma Benhenda, 2020. "The impact of school facility expenditures on pupil attainment," CEPEO Briefing Note Series 10, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Nov 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucl:cepeob:10
    as

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    File URL: https://repec-cepeo.ucl.ac.uk/cepeob/cepeobn10.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephanie Riegg Cellini & Fernando Ferreira & Jesse Rothstein, 2010. "The Value of School Facility Investments: Evidence from a Dynamic Regression Discontinuity Design," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(1), pages 215-261.
    2. Paco Martorel & Kevin Stange & Isaac McFarlin Jr., 2016. "Investing in Schools: Capital Spending, Facility Conditions, and Student Achievement (Revised and Edited)," Upjohn Working Papers 16-256, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    3. Britton, Jack & Propper, Carol, 2016. "Teacher pay and school productivity: Exploiting wage regulation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 75-89.
    4. Conlin, Michael & Thompson, Paul N., 2017. "Impacts of new school facility construction: An analysis of a state-financed capital subsidy program in Ohio," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 13-28.
    5. Neilson, Christopher A. & Zimmerman, Seth D., 2014. "The effect of school construction on test scores, school enrollment, and home prices," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 18-31.
    6. Martorell, Paco & Stange, Kevin & McFarlin, Isaac, 2016. "Investing in schools: capital spending, facility conditions, and student achievement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 13-29.
    7. Dave Thomson, 2016. "The Short Run Impact of the Building Schools for the Future Programme on Attainment at Key Stage 4," DoQSS Working Papers 16-07, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    8. Hong, Kai & Zimmer, Ron, 2016. "Does Investing in School Capital Infrastructure Improve Student Achievement?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 143-158.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    pupil attainment; school funding;

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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