Let's stay together: The effects of repeat student-teacher matches on academic achievement

Albornoz, Facundo; Contreras, David; Upward, Richard

Abstract

We explore the effectiveness of repeating the student-teacher match on test scores, for the universe of 8th graders in Chile using information on all student-teacher matches across multiple subjects and years, and a national, anonymous measure of test scores. Using a fixed effect and a regression discontinuity approach, we find that repeating matches has a robust positive effect on test scores. We show that this positive effect aggregates up to the student, class, and school-level, and also has longer-term effects on university admission exams. As channels, we find a significant positive effect on attendance, progression, student behaviour and teacher expectations. Reallocating teachers to classes with which they are familiar appears to offer a feasible strategy to improve student performance at low cost.

Citation

Albornoz, F., Contreras, D., & Upward, R. (2023). Let's stay together: The effects of repeat student-teacher matches on academic achievement. Economics of Education Review, 94, Article 102375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102375

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 13, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 6, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-06
• Deposit Date: Feb 14, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 17, 2023
• Journal: Economics of Education Review
• Print ISSN: 0272-7757
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-7382
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 94
• Article Number: 102375
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102375
• Keywords: Student-teacher matches; Student achievement; Looping
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/17377133
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775723000225?via%3Dihub