Do value-added estimates add value ? accounting for learning dynamics

Tahir Andrabi, Jishnu Das, Asim Khwaja and Tristan Zajonc ()

No 5066, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Evaluations of educational programs commonly assume that what children learn persists over time. The authors compare learning in Pakistani public and private schools using dynamic panel methods that account for three key empirical challenges to widely used value-added models: imperfect persistence, unobserved student heterogeneity, and measurement error. Their estimates suggest that only a fifth to a half of learning persists between grades and that private schools increase average achievement by 0.25 standard deviations each year. In contrast, estimates from commonly used value-added models significantly understate the impact of private schools’ on student achievement and/or overstate persistence. These results have implications for program evaluation and value-added accountability system design.

Keywords: Education For All; Tertiary Education; Secondary Education; Primary Education; Teaching and Learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-09-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-acc, nep-edu and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (73)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics (2011)
Working Paper: Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics (2009)
Working Paper: Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics (2009)
Working Paper: Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics (2008)
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