Classroom Grade Composition and Pupil Achievement

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Leuven, Edwin; Ronning, Marte
• 署名单位: Statistics Norway; University of Oslo
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12177
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 1164-1192
• 关键词: class-size; combination classes; schools evidence; identification; tracking; RULE; AGE

摘要

This article exploits discontinuous grade mixing rules in Norwegian junior high schools to estimate how classroom grade composition affects pupil achievement. Pupils in mixed grade classrooms are found to outperform pupils in single grade classrooms. This finding is driven by pupils benefiting from sharing the classroom with more mature peers from higher grades. The presence of lower grade peers is detrimental for achievement. Pupils can, therefore, benefit from de-tracking by grade but the effects depend crucially on how the classroom is balanced in terms of lower and higher grades. These results reconcile the contradictory findings in the literature.