Spatial Structure of Peer Networks and Academic Achievement Based on a Random Control Trial Experiment

Shilan Feng, Ya Tan, Zhi Wang and Qinghua Zhang

China & World Economy, 2024, vol. 32, issue 3, 67-97

Abstract: This paper investigates whether changing the seating arrangement in a classroom can facilitate positive spillovers from top‐performing students to others, using a field experiment conducted in a Chinese high school. Among study groups with balanced abilities, the treatment altered the spatial distribution by assigning the two top students to seats in the spatial center of each group. In the reference groups where students were allowed to choose their own seating arrangements, the lowest performing were significantly less likely to sit next to a top student than they would be under a random assignment. The results suggest that, in the treated groups, there could be enhanced academic spillovers from the top students. The treatment especially benefited the two lowest performing students in science subjects. In contrast, the treatment exerted negative effects on the test scores of the two middle‐performing students, due to a disruption mechanism. The results suggest that the spatial layout of a peer network can have a significant impact on learning outcomes.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12532

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:chinae:v:32:y:2024:i:3:p:67-97

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=1671-2234

Access Statistics for this article

China & World Economy is currently edited by Yongding Yu

More articles in China & World Economy from Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().