1,721,002 research outputs found
Should we increase instruction time in low achieving schools? Evidence from Southern Italy
Full text linkAbstractThis paper investigates the short term effects of a large scale intervention, funded by the European Social Fund, which provides additional instruction time to selected classes of lower secondary schools in Southern Italy. Selection is addressed using institutional rules that regulate class formation: first year students are divided into groups distinguished by letters, they remain in the same group across grades at the school, and the composition of teachers assigned to groups is stable over time. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we consider consecutive cohorts of first year students enrolled in the same group. We compare participating groups to non-participating groups within the same school, as well as to groups in non-participating schools. We find that the intervention raised scores in mathematics for students from the least advantaged backgrounds. We also find that targeting the best students with extra activities in language comes at the cost of lowering performance in mathematics. We go beyond average effects, finding that the positive effect for mathematics is driven by larger effects for the best students
Average and quantile effects of more instruction time in low achieving schools: evidence from Southern Italy
Full text linkThe thesis is composed by two main chapters. Both study the effectiveness of a program funded by the European Union, which was implemented during the academic year 2010/11 in low achieving lower secondary schools located in four Southern Italian regions . The intervention's aim was to increase student performances in mathematics and Italian language through the provision of extra instruction time, to be held in the afternoon, thus outside regular school time.
The first chapter focuses on average treatment effects.
I control for sorting across classes using the fact that student are divided into groups distinguished by letters, they remain in the same group across grades and the composition of teachers in the school assigned to each group is substantially stable over time. I implement a difference-in-differences strategy, and compare two contiguous cohorts of sixth grade students enrolled in the same group. I contrast groups with and without additional instruction time in participating schools, to groups in non-participating schools that I selected to be similar with respect to a long list of pre-programme indicators. I find that the programme raised test scores in mathematics in schools characterised by students from less advantaged backgrounds, while no effect is found on Italian language test scores. In particular the gain is higher for the mathematical reasoning dimensions, while the knowledge of mathematics concepts is not affected.
In the second chapter, I go beyond average effects, using two non-linear methods (Threshold difference-in-differences and Changes-in-changes) which allow to recover the counterfactual distribution of the treated group had it not been treated and the quantile treatment effects of the intervention. Both methods suggest that the positive effect documented for mathematics is driven by larger effects for the best students in the group, while low achieving students seem not to benefit form the intervention
How do students react to longer instruction time? Evidence from Italy
Full text linkThis paper investigates the effects on achievement, study behaviours and attitudes of an intervention providing extra instruction time in language and in mathematics in lower secondary schools in Southern Italy. We use a difference-in-differences strategy and compare two contiguous cohorts of students enrolled in the same class for two consecutive years. We find that an average increase of in instruction time leads to an increase in 0.12 sd in mathematics test score for both females and males, while no effect is found on Italian language test scores. Cross-disciplinary effects seem to suggest that extra-classes in mathematics are beneficial for girls also for language scores. The pattern of results found on attitudes and self-reported study behaviours suggests that girls use the extra instruction time as a complement to regular home study, while boys may use it as a substitute.JRC.DDG.01 - Econometrics and applied statistic
An age-period-cohort approach to disentangling generational differences in family values and religious beliefs: Understanding the modern Australian family today
Full text linkBackground: Over the last few decades, Australian families have undergone profound changes, including fewer marriages, more divorces, and an increase in double-income families, resulting in a qualitative shift in understanding the family today. Objective: This paper investigates whether generational differences in family values and religious beliefs are at the core of changes to the family structure. Methods: Using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, we apply the Age-Period-Cohort Detrended (APCD) methodology to investigate generational differences in family values and religious beliefs. Results: Results show that changes in family values and religious beliefs are overwhelmingly generational. Cohorts born between 1946 and 1964 (commonly referred to as baby boomers) have significantly contributed to the revolutionary shift in family behaviours and attitudes. Conclusions: The baby boomer generation has played a crucial role in supporting progressive views on marriage, children, gender roles, and religious beliefs. When compared to older and younger cohorts, baby boomers saw the largest shift in family behaviours and attitudes, having matured in a period of rapid economic prosperity and significant social change. The unique events that occurred during their formative years may have influenced these behaviours and attitudes, ultimately contributing to the qualitative shift in the understanding of family. Contribution: Recognising differences between cohorts is essential to our understanding of social change. The APCD models used in this study can detect birth cohort nonlinearities pertaining specifically to the cohort variable. We then search for appropriate explanations of these cohort fluctuations with contextual elements of cohort-specific socialisation and life conditions
Feasibility study for the overall impact evaluation of the European Social Fund
Full text linkThe European Social Fund (ESF) is one of the Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) which aim to provide support and to create more and better jobs and a socially inclusive society. The aim of this report is to assess the feasibility of an evaluation of the causal effects of the ESF on key objectives (growth and productivity, employment, poverty and inequality, and human capital accumulation) in the EU regions that benefited of the financial assistance in the programming periods 1994-99, 2000-06 and 2007-13.
The report tries to answer three main questions: first, what are the most suitable data on ESF spending to be used (treatment definition); second, which are the most appropriate counterfactual impact evaluation methods that can be applied given the way ESF is allocated and given the data availability (method choice); third, which are the most credible outcomes variable to focus on to estimate the impact of ESF (Outcome definition)
The unexpected influencer: Pope Francis and European perceptions of the recent refugee crisis
Full text linkThis article analyses the impact of non-informative communication on Europeans' perceptions of European Union (EU) action on the issue of migration. We exploit the fact that Pope Francis's visit to Lesbos Island in 16 April 2016, overlaps with the days of the interviews for a Special Eurobarometer survey, such that some respondents were unintentionally exposed to the Pope's speech while others were not. Comparing Catholics and non-Catholics before and after the Pope's visit in a difference-in-differences setting, we show that the papal message persuaded exposed Catholic individuals that EU action on the issue of migration is insufficient. The effect is temporary and varies according to the demographic characteristics of the respondents and by the country's share of asylum applicants in 2015. Moreover, media exposure of the Pope's visit, measured by the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone, was greater in Catholic countries, and this might explain the effect found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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