Compulsory Class Attendance versus Autonomy

Sofoklis Goulas, Silvia Griselda and Rigissa Megalokonomou

No 14559, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education requires a solid grasp of the impact of student autonomy on learning. In this paper, we estimate the effect of an increased autonomy policy for higher-performing students on short- and longer-term school outcomes. We exploit an institutional setting with high demand for autonomy in randomly formed classrooms. Identification comes from a natural experiment that allowed higher-achieving students to miss 30 percent more classes without penalty. Using a difference-in-difference-in-differences approach, we find that allowing higher-achieving students to skip class more often improves their performance in high-stakes subjects and increases their university admission outcomes. Higher-achieving students in more academically diverse classrooms exerted more autonomy when allowed to.

Keywords: COVID-19; learning autonomy; school attendance; returns to education; natural experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2021-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Journal Article: Compulsory class attendance versus autonomy (2023)
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