The short-term effects of school consolidation on student achievement: Evidence of disruption?

Abstract

We exploit variation stemming from school consolidations in Denmark from 2010 to 2011 to analyze the impact on student achievement as measured by test scores. For each student we observe enrollment and test scores prior to school consolidation and up to four years after. We find that the achievement of students in closing schools is adversely affected in the short run. Furthermore, students initially enrolled in small schools experience the most detrimental effects. The effects appear to weaken over time, suggesting that part of the effect is due to disruption.