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THE EFFECTS OF CLASS SIZE ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF COLLEGE STUDENTS *
Author(s) -
DE PAOLA MARIA,
SCOPPA VINCENZO
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the manchester school
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.361
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1467-9957
pISSN - 1463-6786
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9957.2010.02208.x
Subject(s) - class size , mathematics education , estimator , class (philosophy) , matching (statistics) , sample size determination , exploit , student achievement , sample (material) , econometrics , academic achievement , psychology , statistics , economics , mathematics , computer science , physics , artificial intelligence , computer security , thermodynamics
We investigate the effects of class size on the achievements of a sample of college students enrolled at a middle‐sized Italian public university. To estimate the effects of class size we exploit the exogenous variations in class size determined by a maximum class size rule introduced by the 2001 Italian university reform. From our analysis it emerges that large teaching classes produce negative effects on student achievement measured both in terms of the probability of passing exams and in terms of the grades obtained in exams. These results are robust to the use of matching estimators.