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Informal social interactions, behavior, and academic achievement

Matthew A. Lenard,
Mikko Silliman

We study the effects of informal social interactions on academic achievement and behavior using idiosyncratic variation in peer groups stemming from changes in bus routes across elementary, middle, and high school. In early grades, a one standard-deviation change in the value-added of same-grade bus peers corresponds to a 0.01 SD change in academic performance and a 0.03 SD change in behavior; by high school, these magnitudes grow to 0.04 SD and 0.06 SD. These findings suggest that student interactions outside the classroom—especially in adolescence—may be an important factor in the education production function.

Keywords
informal social interactions, peers, school bus, behavior, academic achievement, value-added
Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
Student Learning
Tags
Neighborhoods,
Human capital,
Returns to education and skills
Download 09/2021
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/pftr-7490
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Lenard, Matthew A., and Mikko Silliman. (). Informal social interactions, behavior, and academic achievement. (EdWorkingPaper: -460). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/pftr-7490

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