Can Public Rankings Improve School Performance?: Evidence from a Nationwide Reform in Tanzania

Jacobus Cilliers, Isaac Mbiti and Andrew Zeitlin

Journal of Human Resources, 2021, vol. 56, issue 3, 655-685

Abstract: In 2013, Tanzania introduced “Big Results Now in Education” (BRN), a low-stakes accountability program that published both nationwide and within-district school rankings. Using data from the universe of school performance for 2011–2016, we identify the impacts of the reform using a difference-in-differences estimator that exploits the differential pressure exerted on schools at the bottom of their respective district rankings. We find that BRN improved learning outcomes for schools in the bottom two deciles of their districts. However, the program also led schools to strategically exclude students from the terminal year of primary school.

JEL-codes: I21 I25 I28 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.56.3.0119-9969R1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Can Public Rankings Improve School Performance? Evidence from a Nationwide Reform in Tanzania (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:56:y:2021:i:3:p:655-685

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