RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Can Public Rankings Improve School Performance?
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 655
OP 685
DO 10.3368/jhr.56.3.0119-9969R1
VO 56
IS 3
A1 Jacobus Cilliers
A1 Isaac M. Mbiti
A1 Andrew Zeitlin
YR 2021
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/56/3/655.abstract
AB In 2013, Tanzania introduced “Big Results Now in Education” (BRN), a low-stakes accountability program that published both nationwide and within-district school rankings. Using data from the universe of school performance for 2011–2016, we identify the impacts of the reform using a difference-in-differences estimator that exploits the differential pressure exerted on schools at the bottom of their respective district rankings. We find that BRN improved learning outcomes for schools in the bottom two deciles of their districts. However, the program also led schools to strategically exclude students from the terminal year of primary school.