Early years multi‐grade classes and pupil attainment

Borbely, D., Gehrsitz, M., McIntyre, S., Rossi, G. and Roy, G. (2023) Early years multi‐grade classes and pupil attainment. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, (doi: 10.1111/obes.12561) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

We study the effect of exposure to older, more experienced, classroom peers resulting from the widespread use of multi-grade classes in Scottish primary schools. For identification, we exploit that a class-planning algorithm quasi-randomly assigns groups of pupils to multi-grade classes. We find that school-starters benefit from exposure to second-graders in measures of numeracy and literacy. We do not find any evidence that these gains are driven by smaller class sizes or more parental input. While short-lived, these benefits accrue independent of socioeconomic background, to boys and girls alike, and our results provide no evidence that they come at the expense of older peers from the preceding cohort.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This project was supported by the Nuffield Foundation through grant EDO/43743.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Roy, Professor Graeme
• Authors: Borbely, D., Gehrsitz, M., McIntyre, S., Rossi, G., and Roy, G.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences; College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
• Journal Name: Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0305-9049
• ISSN (Online): 1468-0084
• Published Online: 09 May 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License