ERIC Number: ED530334
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2007-May
Pages: 51
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: ISBN-978-0-8532-8202-0
ISSN: ISSN-2045-6557
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Urban Density and Pupil Attainment. CEE DP 80
Gibbons, Stephen; Silva, Olmo
Centre for the Economics of Education (NJ1)
We explore the association between urban density and pupil attainment using three cohorts of pupils in schooling in England. Although--as widely recognised--attainment in dense urban places is low on average, this is not because urban environments disadvantage pupils, but because the most disadvantaged pupils with low average attainments attend the most urbanised schools. To control for this, we exploit changes in urban density faced by pupils during compulsory transition from Primary to Secondary school, and measure educational progress at the end of the Secondary phase, relative to attainments at the end of Primary schooling. Our results suggest that there are small but significant benefits from education in schools in more densely urbanised settings: Pupils in schools in relatively dense places--measured in terms of school density and other urban indicators--progress faster than others in their cohort, but the elasticity is low, at around 0.02. We detect this density advantage even amongst pupils moving relatively short distances between Primary and Secondary schools within urban areas, so we cannot attribute it to broad urbanisation effects experienced by pupils making rural-urban school moves. A more likely explanation lies in greater school choice and competition between closely co-located educational providers. Estimation of Two-Way Fixed Effects is appended. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure and 18 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Urban Schools, School Choice, Academic Achievement, Urban Areas, Foreign Countries, Students, Cohort Analysis, Educational Attainment, Disadvantaged Environment, Urban Environment, Population Distribution, Urban Population, Aptitude Treatment Interaction, Models, Achievement Gains, School Statistics, Community Benefits, Educational Benefits, Robustness (Statistics), Educational Policy, Competition, Educational Resources, Performance Factors, Educational Assessment, Educational Indicators, Economic Impact
Centre for the Economics of Education. London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, UK. Tel: +44-20-7955-7673; Fax: +44-20-7955-7595; e-mail: cee@lse.ac.uk; Web site: http://cee.lse.ac.uk
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Department for Children, Schools and Families
Authoring Institution: London School of Economics & Political Science, Centre for the Economics of Education
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A