Publikasjon

Do funds for more teachers improve student outcomes?

Forfattere: Borgen, Nicolai T., Lars J. Kirkebøen, Andreas Kotsadam, Oddbjørn Raaum

Publisert: 2025

Sammendrag: We investigate the effects of a large-scale Norwegian intervention that provided extra teachers to 166 lower secondary schools with relatively high student-teacher ratios and low average grades. We exploit these two margins using a regression discontinuity setup and find that the intervention reduced the student-teacher ratio by around 10%, without crowding out other school resources. The extra funding did not improve test scores and medium-term academic outcomes, and we can reject even small positive effects. We do find that more teachers improved the school environment, including self-reported student well-being, but with the largest impact on aspects of the school environment most weakly associated with better academic outcomes.

Prosjekt: 1676 Intergenerational Mobility and Labor Market Inclusion

Referanse: Borgen, Nicolai T., Lars J. Kirkebøen, Andreas Kotsadam, Oddbjørn Raaum, 2025, «Do funds for more teachers improve student outcomes?», The Journal of Human Resources, Forthcoming

JEL Codes: J24, I2

Keywords: Student-teacher-ratio, class size, test scores, non-cognitive skills, RDD

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