Can Small Class Policy Close the Gap? An Empirical Analysis of Class Size Effects in Japan

Akabayashi, Hideo; Nakamura, Ryosuke

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2247165

Cited by 4 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Combining data from the 2007 NAAA and Yokohama City Achievement Test, Akabayashi and Nakamura (2014) estimated the effects of class size on sixth and ninth graders in City of Yokohama. In addition to exploiting the exogenous variation by Maimonides' rule, they controlled for unobserved heterogeneity by using a value-added model and controlling for school fixed effects.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the previous studies including Akabayashi and Nakamura (2014) use variables at the school level instead of the student level. This approach eliminates variations within school-grade-year combination.…”

Section: Aggregating To the School Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although our data set is smaller than the one used by Senoh et al (2014) that cover all students in Japanese public schools, it is much larger than data from a municipality (e.g. Akabayashi and Nakamura, 2014;Ito et al, 2017), which is a subdivision of a prefecture. Second, our data include non-cognitive skill measures including conscientiousness, self-control, and self-efficacy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…There are several studies on class size using Japanese data. Examples include, but not limited to, Niki (2013), Hojo (2013), Senoh et al (2014), Akabayashi and Nakamura (2014), Senoh and Hojo (2016), and Ito et al (2017). Evidence from Japan so far is mixed presumably due to differences in their statistical methods and samples chosen.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Effects of Class-Size Reduction on Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills

2019

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We estimate the effects of class-size reduction by exploiting exogenous variation caused by Maimonides' rule that requires the maximum class size be 40 and class be split when 41 students are enrolled. Our data cover all fourth to ninth graders in 1,064 public schools in an anonymous prefecture for three years. We find that the effects of class-size reduction on academic test scores are small on average, but slightly stronger for students not going to a private tutoring school.We find no evidence that small class size improves non-cognitive skills.Our substantive conclusion does not change when school fixed effects are controlled. * We thank an anonymous prefecture for providing data and research fund.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Aggregating To the School Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Class-Size Reduction on Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills

2019

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“…She finds no class size effects on math and science test scores. Akabayashi and Nakamura (2014) estimate the effect of small class size on the language and mathematics test scores of sixth and ninth grade students. Estimating a value-added model with regression discontinuity design based on the Maimonides rules, they find the effect of small class size only for the sixth grade language scores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do teaching practices matter for students’ academic achievement? A case of linguistic activity

Tanaka

Ishizaki²

2018

Journal of the Japanese and International Economies

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This paper analyzes the effects of teaching practices on the educational achievement of elementary school students. Using unique student-level test score data and controlling for school fixed effects, we estimate the impact of linguistic activity in the classroom on reading and mathematics test scores of sixth grade students. We find that linguistic activities improve students reading and mathematics test scores and that their impacts are substantial. We find heterogeneity in the effect of these activities across class size environment and home environment such as cram schooling. These findings indicate that the types of language teaching practices matter for students' academic achievement, and the effectiveness may depend on the learning environment in school and at home.

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Do Class Size Reductions Protect Students from Infectious Diseases?

Oikawa¹,

Tanaka²,

Bessho³

et al. 2022

American Journal of Health Economics

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We evaluate the causal effect of class size (number of students in a classroom) on incidence of class closure due to the flu, as an outcome of an infectious disease epidemic. For identification of causal effects, we apply a regression discontinuity design using discontinuous variation of class sizes, around the class size cap set by regulation, to administrative data of public primary and middle school students in one of the largest municipalities within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area from 2015 to 2017. Most classrooms in Japan are constructed in accordance with a standard of classroom area, 63 m 2 ; class size reduction improves social distancing among students in a classroom. We find that class size reduction is effective in reducing class closures due to the flu: a one-unit reduction of class size decreases class closure by about 5%; additionally, forming small classes with twenty-seven students at most, satisfying the social distancing of 1.5 m recommended to prevent droplet infection including influenza and COVID-19, reduces class closure by about 90%. Moreover, we find that the older the students, the larger the effects of class size reduction. Our findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of social distancing policy in primary and middle schools to protect students from droplet infectious disease spread, including COVID-19.

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Can Small Class Policy Close the Gap? An Empirical Analysis of Class Size Effects in Japan

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Effects of Class-Size Reduction on Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills

Effects of Class-Size Reduction on Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills

Do teaching practices matter for students’ academic achievement? A case of linguistic activity

Do Class Size Reductions Protect Students from Infectious Diseases?

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