Working Paper: NBER ID: w30174
Authors: Damon Clark
Abstract: For much of the 20th century, British students were tracked into higher-track (for the "top" 20%) or lower-track (for the rest) secondary schools. Opponents of tracking contend that the lower-track schools in these systems will inevitably provide low-quality education. In this paper I examine this claim using a 1947 reform that increased the minimum school leaving age from 14 to 15. First, I show that over 95% of the students affected by the reform ("compliers") attended lower-track schools. Second, using new data, I show that for both men and women, the additional schooling induced by the reform had close to zero impact on a range of labor market outcomes including earnings. Third, I show that lower-track schools featured, among other things, large classes and a curriculum that promoted practical education. I conclude that my findings shed new light on the potential consequences of educational tracking.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I21; J24; J31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| larger class sizes (A21) | lack of impact on labor market outcomes (F66) |
| less qualified teachers (I24) | lack of impact on labor market outcomes (F66) |
| curriculum focused on practical education (A21) | lack of impact on labor market outcomes (F66) |
| lower student effort due to weak incentives (D29) | lack of impact on labor market outcomes (F66) |
| additional schooling induced by the reform (J24) | labor market outcomes (J48) |
| additional schooling induced by the reform (J24) | earnings (J31) |
| additional schooling induced by the reform (J24) | labor force participation (J22) |
| additional schooling induced by the reform (J24) | home ownership (R21) |