Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP5085
Authors: Roland Benabou; Francis Kramarz; Corinne Prost
Abstract: We provide an assessment of the French ZEP (Zones d?Education Prioritaire), a programme started in 1982 that channels additional resources to schools in disadvantaged areas and encourages the development of new teaching projects. Focusing on middle-schools, we first evaluate the impact of the ZEP status on resources, their utilization (teacher bonuses versus teaching hours) and key establishments characteristics such as class sizes, school enrolments, teachers? qualifications and experience, and student composition and mobility. We then estimate the impact of the ZEP programme on four measures of individual student achievement: obtaining at least one diploma by the end of schooling, reaching 8th grade, reaching 10th grade and success at the Baccalauréat. We take into account the endogeneity of the ZEP status by using both differences in differences and instrumental variables based on political variables. The results are the same in all cases: there is no impact on student success of the ZEP programme.
Keywords: class size; disadvantaged schools; education policy; education production function; school finance
JEL Codes: H52; I21; I22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| ZEP status (C87) | student achievement (I24) |
| ZEP status (C87) | obtaining at least one diploma (Y40) |
| ZEP status (C87) | reaching 8th grade (A21) |
| ZEP status (C87) | reaching 10th grade (A21) |
| ZEP status (C87) | success at the baccalauréat (Y40) |
| financial resources allocated to ZEP schools (H52) | student achievement (I24) |
| ZEP program implementation (C87) | negative signaling effect (D91) |
| negative signaling effect (D91) | discouraging student enrollment from privileged backgrounds (I24) |
| negative signaling effect (D91) | discouraging teacher retention in ZEP schools (I21) |