Absolute effects of schooling as a reference for the interpretation of educational intervention effects

Hans Luyten*, Christine Merrell, Peter Tymms

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)
    50 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Knowledge of the absolute effects of schooling provides a useful reference for the interpretation of the effectiveness of educational interventions. We use discontinuities in test scores between the oldest pupils in one birth cohort and the youngest in the next to assess the absolute effects of schooling. Our study includes 90 % of all pupils in year-groups 4–6 of primary education (ages 7–10) in Northern Ireland. Assignment to year-groups is strictly determined by date of birth in Northern Ireland. This creates a situation which parallels randomized controlled experimentation. The findings support the view that the guidelines suggested by Cohen (in 1969) may be overly ambitious when evaluating the effectiveness of educational interventions.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number100939
    JournalStudies in educational evaluation
    Volume67
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020

    Keywords

    • UT-Hybrid-D
    • Effect size
    • Northern Ireland
    • Primary education
    • Regression-discontinuity
    • Absolute effect of schooling

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Absolute effects of schooling as a reference for the interpretation of educational intervention effects'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this