Relative Age, Class Assignment, and Academic Performance: Evidence from Brazilian Primary Schools

Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner

Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2018, vol. 120, issue 1, 296-325

Abstract: Students in Brazil are typically assigned to classes based on the age ranking in their cohort. I exploit this rule to estimate how fifth‐grade students’ achievement in mathematics is affected when they are in classes with older peers. I find that being assigned to the older class leads to a drop in maths scores of about 0.4 of a standard deviation for students at the cut‐off. I provide evidence that heterogeneity in age is an important factor behind this effect. Information on teaching practices and student behaviour sheds light on how class heterogeneity harms learning.

Date: 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12215

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Working Paper: Relative Age, Class Assignment and Academic Performance: Evidence from Brazilian Primary Schools (2016)
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