Introducing a Performance-Based School Grant in Jakarta : What Do We Know about Its Impact after Two Years?
This paper evaluates the early impact of introducing a performance component into Jakarta's school grant program on learning outcomes. Using administrative data, it applies difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity approaches to i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/826471508762577145/Introducing-a-performance-based-school-grant-in-Jakarta-what-do-we-know-about-its-impact-after-two-years http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28583 |
| Summary: | This paper evaluates the early impact of
introducing a performance component into Jakarta's
school grant program on learning outcomes. Using
administrative data, it applies difference-in-differences
and regression discontinuity approaches to identify the
impact of the grant by exploiting differences in program
coverage over time, as well as by comparing changes in test
scores between schools that received the additional
performance award with schools that did not. The paper finds
that the introduction of the performance component had
different impacts on government primary and junior secondary
schools. The program improved learning outcomes for primary
schools at the bottom of the performance distribution and
narrowed performance gaps across schools. However,
improvements in equity were also driven by negative impacts
of the program on better performing primary schools.
Overall, the program reduced primary examination scores
albeit by a small amount. In contrast to the results at the
primary level, the performance component improved
examination scores in government junior secondary schools.
However, the impact seemed to be greatest among better
performing schools and has therefore widened performance
gaps. The findings also suggest that program impact was
largely through competition between schools to receive the
performance component. There is little evidence that the
additional resources schools received from the award had any
additional impact. The evaluation utilized preexisting
administrative data and the paper offers some suggestions on
how education information systems can be strengthened to
create more robust feedback loops between research and policy. |
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