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Long-Run Trends in School Productivity: Evidence from Australia
- Source :
-
Education Finance and Policy . Win 2011 6(1):105-135. - Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- Outside the United States, very little is known about long-run trends in school productivity. We present new evidence using two data series from Australia, where comparable tests are available back to the 1960s. For young teenagers (aged 13-14), we find a small but statistically significant fall in numeracy over the period 1964-2003 and in both literacy and numeracy over the period 1975-98. The decline is in the order of one-tenth to one-fifth of a standard deviation. Adjusting this decline for changes in student demographics does not affect this conclusion; if anything, the decline appears to be more acute. The available evidence also suggests that any changes in student attitudes, school violence, and television viewing are unlikely to have had a major impact on test scores. Real per child school expenditure increased substantially over this period, implying a fall in school productivity. Although we cannot account for all the phenomena that might have affected school productivity, we identify a number of plausible explanations.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1557-3060
- Volume :
- 6
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- ERIC
- Journal :
- Education Finance and Policy
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- EJ933127
- Document Type :
- Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1162/EDFP_a_00024