Mentoring improves prospects of disadvantaged adolescents
Mentoring programs can improve the labor-market prospects of adolescents from disadvantaged families. This is shown in an RCT by Ludger Woessmann and Katharina Wedel from the ifo Center for the Economics of Education, Sven Resnjanskij from Erfurt, Jens Ruhose from Kiel, and Simon Wiederhold from Halle-Wittenberg. The paper is forthcoming in the Journal of Political Economy, one of the "Top Five" journals in economics. Providing disadvantaged adolescents with a university-student mentor improves their math grades, patience, and labor-market orientation. Effects on grades and labor-market orientation persist three years after program start. By that time, the mentoring also improves early realizations of school-to-work transitions for disadvantaged adolescents. more...
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Earnings information raises support for tuition
Does public support for charging university tuition depend on beliefs and awareness about the university earnings premium? Ludger Woessmann from the ifo Center for the Economics of Education and Philipp Lergetporer from TU Munich answer this question in their paper that has just been published in the Journal of Public Economics. They devise survey experiments in representative samples of the German electorate. Public opinion is divided, with a plurality opposing tuition. Providing information on the university earnings premium raises support for tuition by 7 percentage points, turning the plurality in favor. The opposition-reducing effect persists two weeks after treatment. Information on fiscal costs and unequal access does not affect public preferences. more...
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Germans see quality losses at schools
The ifo Education Survey 2023, the tenth installment of our annual representative opinion survey, surveys the opinions of more than 5,500 adults on the topic of school quality. Only 27% of Germans give their state's schools a grade of A or B (1 or 2), compared with 38% in 2014. Most Germans see teacher shortage (77%) as a serious problem, followed by a lack of financial resources (68%) and the inertia of the system (66%). To counter teacher shortage, respondents support post-qualification of teachers in subjects with shortage (79%) and the use of career changers (64%). The majority of respondents are in favor of standardized high-school exit exams throughout Germany (86%) and comparative tests in math and German (68%). 74% are in favor of increased education spending – significantly more than for other public spending categories. more...
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Regional results of the ifo Education Survey 2023
For the first time, the ifo Education Survey 2023 allows a representative analysis of selected questions in seven German regions. Results reveal clear regional differences in the assessment of schools: In Bavaria, 41% of respondents give the schools in their state a grade of A or B (1 or 2), while in North Rhine-Westphalia only 20% do. Between 58% (Bavaria and North-West) and 66% (Center-West) see learning losses caused by Covid as a serious problem. Education policy is important for the personal voting decisions in state elections for the vast majority (78%) of respondents, especially in the Center-East (84%) and North-East (83%). In all regions, more than 80% are in favor of standardized exit exams throughout Germany for the various school-leaving qualifications. more...
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Democracy education needs commitment
Good democracy education in schools is more important than ever in times of multiple crises. That is why the report of the Hertie Commission Democracy and Education, of which Ludger Woessmann was a member, examines the deficits and potentials of current democracy education and formulates recommendations. Because democracy education requires clear commitment, the Commission recommends, among others, binding educational standards for democracy education and a PISA for democracy. more...
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Dissertation: "Culture,
Feedback, and Gender in Education"
The doctoral thesis by Lavinia Kinne, written at the ifo Center for the Economics of Education and accepted by the University of Munich (LMU), is now published. Two of the four empirical chapters show that patience and risk-taking are closely related to differences in student achievement across and within countries. One of the studies involves the use of new machine learning methods. A field experiment among university students shows that the ordering in which positive and negative performance feedback is provided matters for study motivation. The final chapter presents new insights on gender gaps in adult cognitive skills, which are closely related to wages. more...
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Dissertation: "Determinants and
Consequences of Student Test Scores"
The University of Munich (LMU) has just accepted four empirical essays by Pietro Sancassani from the ifo Center for the Economics of Education as his doctoral thesis titled "Determinants and Consequences of Student Test Scores: Evidence from International, Big, and Text Data". The first two chapters investigate the impact of teacher characteristics on student science achievement. Results indicate positive effects of teacher subject-specific qualifications. The third chapter investigates the association between a measure of patience derived from social-media data and student achievement at the regional level. The fourth chapter demonstrates that the salience induced by the so-called "PISA shock" in Germany led to an increase in the polarization of parliamentary debates about education. more...
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IN THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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Germans lose faith in schools
An article on dw.com reports on the results of the ifo Education Survey 2023.
En Allemagne aussi, l'école se heurte au mur du recrutement des enseignants
Lesechos.fr also picks up on the ifo Education Survey 2023.
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Citizens criticize declining quality of schools
Article on tagesschau.de about the national results of the ifo Education Survey 2023.
Is the education of our children in danger?
ZDF nano reports on the national results of the ifo Education Survey 2023 and interviews Ludger Woessmann on the state of education in Germany.
Pessimistic view of the school system
Katharina Werner reports on the ifo Education Survey 2023 on Deutschlandfunk Campus & Karriere.
A majority of the population wants changes in the school system
In an interview on Campus Schulmanagement, Ludger Woessmann talks about the national results of the ifo Education Survey 2023.
Poor grades for German school system
The national results of the ifo Education Survey 2023 on the quality of schools are also covered by ZDF heute, Pro7 Newstime, Sat.1 Nachrichten, Phoenix vor Ort, BR24 Rundschau, FAZ, SZ, Handelsblatt, zeit.de, wiwo.de, welt.de, bild.de, focus.de, SZ Podcast, BR Nachrichten, SWR Aktuell, NDR Info, and many more.
Bavarian citizens most satisfied with their schools
Report on BR24 television about the regional results of the ifo Education
Survey 2023.
How the federal states grade their own school systems
The regional analyses of the ifo Education Survey 2023 are covered in articles by Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, faz.net, Zeit Online, sueddeutsche.de, bild.de, welt.de, wiwo.de, wdr.de, br.de, merkur.de, bildungsklick.de, and many additional regional media.
New proposals for democracy education in schools
The Hertie Commission's proposals on democracy education for young people are reported on by Tagesschau, Deutschlandfunk, Focus, faz.net, Zeit Online, Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, Stuttgarter Nachrichten, and many further media.
It's about the quality of schools as a whole
Interview with Ludger Woessmann on the Wiarda Blog about the report of the Hertie Commission on Democracy and Education.
The invisible advantage
A cover story in Die Zeit and an editorial in Der Spiegel refer to the findings of the Opportunity Monitor of ifo and "A Heart for Children".
The failures of the education system
Ludger Woessmann talks to Daniel Stelter in the podcast "beyond the obvious" – an all-round look at the state of the German education system as the basis for our prosperity (from min. 32 onwards).
Portrait: Ludger Woessmann - Strict Empiricist
A portrait in the "Heads" section of Professional Briefing Bildung.Table.
Youth mocked
Der Spiegel reports on the Opportunity Monitor. The taz also refers to the Opportunity Monitor.
Equality of opportunities for working-class children? Missing!
The Augsburger Allgemeine quotes Vera Freundl on the lack of equal opportunities in the German education system.
Too many leave school without a diploma
In Das Parlament, Ludger Woessmann emphasizes the importance of completed vocational training in the German labor market (p. 11).
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SELECTED EVENTS AND PRESENTATIONS
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CESifo Area Conference on the Economics of Education
The CESifo Area Conference on Economics of Education took place on 1-2 September 2023. Many leading international scholars in the economics of education met at the ifo Institute in Munich. The keynote lecture was delivered by Eliana La Ferrara (Harvard Kennedy School). Adam Altmejd (Stockholm School of Economics) won the CESifo Young Affiliate Award.
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Press conference of the ifo Education Survey 2023
The recording of the press conference of the ifo Education Survey 2023 on "Quality of Schools" can be found here.
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YES! Regional Finals at the ifo Institute
On 4 July 2023, the YES! regional finals South-East took place at the ifo Institute in Munich. Numerous school teams presented their inspiring ideas. Researchers from the ifo Center for the Economics of Education supervised a school team from the Ortenburg-Gymnasium Oberviechtach, which made it to the YES! national finals.
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Participation in scientific conferences and workshops
Many researchers of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education presented their projects at international scientific conferences and seminars, such as the ESA World Meeting, the
EEA-ESEM Congress, the CESifo Venice Summer Institute, the IRLE, the IWAEE, the EALE, the Annual Conference of the German Economic Association, and the ifo PhD Summer Conference.
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Articles in refereed journals
Resnjanskij, S., J. Ruhose, S. Wiederhold, L. Woessmann, and K. Wedel, "Can Mentoring Alleviate Family Disadvantage in Adolescence? A Field Experiment to Improve Labor-Market Prospects", Journal of Political Economy, forthcoming.
Lergetporer, P., and L. Woessmann, "Earnings Information and Public Preferences for University Tuition: Evidence from Representative Experiments, Journal of Public Economics, 226: 104968, 2023.
Monographs
Kinne, L., "Culture, Feedback, and Gender in Education", ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung 101, 2023.
Sancassani, P., "Determinants and Consequences of Student Test Scores: Evidence from International, Big, and Text Data", ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung 102, 2023.
Further articles
Freundl, V., E. Grewenig, P. Lergetporer, F. Pfaehler, R. Schüler, K. Wedel, K. Werner, O. Wirth, and L. Woessmann, "The ifo Education Survey: An ifo Survey on Public Preferences for Education Policy in Germany", in: S. Sauer, M. Schasching, and K. Wohlrabe, "Handbook of ifo Surveys", ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung 100: 218-225, 2023.
Hertie Commission Democracy and Education, "Mehr und besser. Vorschläge für eine Demokratiebildung von morgen", Frankfurt a.M./Berlin: Hertie Foundation, 2023.
Werner, K., V. Freundl, F. Pfaehler, L. Woessmann, and K. Wedel, "Was die Deutschen über die Qualität der Schulen denken – Ergebnisse des zehnten ifo Bildungsbarometers 2023", ifo Schnelldienst 76(9), 37-50, 2023.
Werner, K., V. Freundl, F. Pfaehler, L. Woessmann, and K. Wedel, "Wie unterscheidet sich das Meinungsbild zu Schulen zwischen den deutschen Regionen? Regionale Ergebnisse des ifo Bildungsbarometers 2023", ifo Schnelldienst 76(10), pre-print, 2023.
Werner, K., and L. Woessmann, "COVID-19 and Pupils' Learning", in: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
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After successfully completing her PhD, Lavinia Kinne is leaving the ifo Center for the Economics of Education to take up a postdoc position at DIW Berlin. Congratulations and best wishes!
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Pietro Sancassani is also leaving the ifo Center for the Economics of Education after the successful completion of his PhD. All the best for the future!
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Ludger Woessmann has been elected a member of Academia Europaea - The Academy of Europe. Its object is the advancement and propagation of excellence in scientific scholarship around the world for the public benefit and for the advancement of the education of the public. Congratulations!
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Benjamin Arold has received the Fürther Ludwig Erhard Prize 2023 for his dissertation, which he wrote at the ifo Center for the Economics of Education. This is a great acknowledgement of the combination of scientific rigor with relevance to society that characterizes his work. Well done!
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