The effect of low-achieving peers

Abstract

Using Norwegian registry data, I examine the effect that low-achieving pupils have on their peers in the inclusive Norwegian compulsory education. I exploit the fact that pupils in Norway have to change school when starting lower secondary, and that national tests are conducted in the same subjects, both before and after this change. I focus on the exposure to at least one low-achieving pupil in a fixed effect approach. My results suggest that low-achieving pupils do not have any effect on their peers, and are even consistent when dividing pupils into different groups based on subject, gender, socioeconomic background and pupils’ own position in the achievement distribution.