Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-m9pkr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-15T00:33:32.391Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Evaluation of English Education Policies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Stephen Machin  and
Sandra McNally
Stephen Machin*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University College London and Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics
Sandra McNally*
Affiliation:
Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics
*
1 E-mail: S.Machin@ucl.ac.uk
2 E-mail: S.McNally1@lse.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Educational inequalities are evident even before children start school. Those connected to disadvantage widen out as children progress through the education system and into the labour market. We document various forms of educational inequality. We then review available evidence for England about the impact of school-level policies on achievement and their potential for reducing the socio-economic gap. We discuss evaluation evidence under four main themes: school resources; market incentives; school autonomy; and pedagogical approaches.

Keywords

Educational inequalityevaluationschool policies12
Type
Research Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 219 , January 2012 , pp. R15 - R25
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

We would like to thank Alex Bryson for giving us detailed and helpful comments.

JEL Classifications: 12

References

Angrist, J., Lavy, V. (1999), ‘Using Maimonides' rule to estimate the effect of class size on scholastic achievement’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114, pp. 533–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, S., Machin, S. (2010), ‘Housing valuations of school performance’, in Hanushek, E., Machin, S. and Woessmann, L. (eds), Handbook of the Economics of Education, Volume 3, North Holland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, S., Johnes, G., Millington, J. (2001), ‘School choice, competition and the efficiency of secondary schools in England’, European Journal of Operational Research, 135, pp. 527–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, S., Taylor, J. (2010), ‘Diversity, choice and the quasi-market: an empirical analysis of secondary education policy in England’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 72, pp. 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, S., Greaves, E., Vignoles, A., Wilson, D. (2009), ‘Parental choice of primary school in England: what ‘type’ of school do parents choose?’, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, 09/224, Department of Economics, University of Bristol.Google Scholar
Dustmann, C., Machin, S., Schonberg, U. (2010), ‘Ethnicity and educational achievement in compulsory schooling’, Economic Journal, 120, F272–F297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eurostat (2009), ‘The Bologna process in higher education in Europe. Key indicators on the social dimension and mobility’, Eurostat.Google Scholar
Gibbons, S., Machin, S. (2003), ‘Valuing English primary schools’, Journal of Urban Economics, 53, pp. 197–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbons, S., Machin, S., Silva, O. (2008), ‘Competition, choice and pupil achievement’, Journal of the European Economic Association, 6, pp. 912–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbons, S., Machin, S., Silva, O. (2009), ‘Valuing school quality using boundary discontinuity regressions’, SERC DP0018. London School of Economics.Google Scholar
Gibbons, S., McNally, S., Viarengo, M. (2011), ‘Does additional spending help urban schools? An evaluation using boundary discontinuities?’, CEE Discussion Paper. No. 128, London School of EconomicsGoogle Scholar
Hanushek, E. A. (2008), ‘Education production functions’, in Durlauf, S. and Blume, L. (eds), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Holmlund, H., McNally, S., Viarengo, M. (2008), ‘Impact of school resources on attainment at Key Stage 2’, Research Report DCSF-RR043, Department of Children, Schools and Families.Google Scholar
Holmlund, H., McNally, S., Viarengo, M. (2010), ‘Does money matter for schools?’, Economics of Education Review, 29, pp. 1154–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, A., Levačić, R., Vignoles, A. (2006), ‘Estimating the relationship between school resources and pupil attainment at GCSE’, Research Report RR727, Department for Education and Skills.Google Scholar
Krueger, A. (1999), ‘Experimental estimates of education production functions’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114, pp. 497–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krueger, A., Whitmore, D. (2001), ‘The effect of attending a small class in the early grades on college-test taking and middle school test results: evidence from Project Star’, Economic Journal, 111, pp. 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levačić, R., Jenkins, A., Vignoles, A., Steele, F., Allen, R. (2005), ‘Estimating the relationship between school resources and pupil attainment at Key Stage 3’, Research Report RR679, Department for Education and Skills.Google Scholar
Machin, S. (2011), ‘Houses and schools: valuation of school quality through the housing market’, Labour Economics, 18, pp. 723–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machin, S., McNally, S. (2008), ‘The Literacy Hour’, Journal of Public Economics, 92, pp. 1141–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machin, S., McNally, S., Meghir, C. (2004), ‘Improving pupil performance in English secondary schools: excellence in cities’, Journal of the European Economics Association, 2, pp. 396–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machin, S., McNally, S., Meghir, C. (2010), ‘Resources and standards in urban schools’, Journal of Human Capital, 4, pp. 365–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machin, S., Vernoit, J. (2010), ‘A note on academy school policy’, http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/pa011.pdfGoogle Scholar
Machin, S., Vernoit, J. (2011), ‘Changing school autonomy: academy schools and their introduction to England's education’, CEE Discussion Paper. No. 123, London School of Economics.Google Scholar
Machin, S., Vignoles, , (2005), What's the Good of Education? The Economics of Education in the United Kingdom, Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD (2011), Education at a Glance, Paris, OECD.Google Scholar
Rivkin, S., Hanushek, E., Kain, J. (2002), ‘Teachers, schools and academic achievement’, Econometrica, 73, pp. 417–58.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, L. (2003), ‘The value of secondary school quality’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 65, pp. 329–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slavin, R.E., Lake, C., Davis, S., Madden, N.A. (2011), ‘Effective programs for struggling readers: a best-evidence synthesis’, Educational Research Review, 6, pp. 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanner, E., Brown, A., Day, N., Kotecha, M., Law, N., Morrell, G., Turczuk, O., Brown, V., Collingwood, A., Chowdry, H., Greaves, E., Harrison, C., Johnson, G., Purdon, S. (2010), ‘Evaluation of Every Child a Reader (ECAR)’, Department of Education, Research Report DFE-RR114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, A., Pennell, H. (1999), ‘School admissions: increasing equity, accountability and transparency’, British Journal of Education Studies, 46, pp. 188–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. (2011), ‘Are England's academies more inclusive or more ‘exclusive’? The impact of institutional change on the pupil profile of schools’, CEE Discussion Paper, No. 125, London School of Economics.Google Scholar