The Impact of Student Awards on Improving School Effectiveness

• In Event: Economics of Education

Proposal

This research had two objectives: 1) to examine the impact of an award intervention program on school effectiveness; and 2) to examine the relationships between students’ background characteristics (e.g., immigrant background) and improvements in math achievements among sixth graders. The sample included 426 sixth-grade students from a primary school where the level of achievement is low. Of these, 94 constituted the manipulation group. Symbolic awards ($1 equivalent) were given to each cohort upon improvement of each goal.
Analyses using the difference-in-differences method and logistic regression revealed that the award mechanism had a positive impact on school effectiveness. Additionally, the improvement in achievement among the award winners was 1.5 times greater than among their counterparts, and among students from immigrant backgrounds the improvement was 3.5 times greater.
The research findings suggest that award mechanisms may improve school effectiveness. Nevertheless, cautious is needed in designing such a mechanism.

Authors

• Zehorit Dadon-Golan, Hemdat college of education and Bar Ilan University

• Iris BenDavid-Hadar, Bar Ilan University