Abstract:

In 2012, the Department of Education of the city of Moscow began a large-scale reorganization of educational institutions in the capital. This political measure affected not only schools, but also kindergartens, vocational schools and even correctional institutions that were under municipal jurisdiction. The scale of the reform seems to be quite significant: in just four years, the number of Moscow schools has halved, from 1,572 to less than 700 in 2016. At the same time, the main wave of reorganizations occurred in 2013-2015.

The case of school consolidation in a broad sense is not unique. Policies to enlarge educational institutions, especially in rural areas, have been pursued in a number of countries, such as the United States (Self, 2001; Gordon, Knight, 2008; Richard 2004), China (Liu C. et al 2010; Pang 2006; Guo 2007; Xinhuanet 2002; Zhuo 2006), Denmark (Berry, West, 2010; Brummet, 2014; Kuziemko, 2006; Ares Abalde 2014; De Haan et al. 2016; Bækgaard, 2010; Blom-Hansen et al. 2016). The effects of such programs vary depending on various factors and change over time, that is, they can potentially appear only a few years after the decision to merge schools. All this does not allow us to draw a conclusion about the broad benefits of school reorganization and raises the question of the need for further study of the consequences of such reforms in different contexts.

In our study, school consolidation reform was assessed in two key steps. The first step showed how the consolidation took place in terms of the characteristics of the schools being merged. The second step assessed the fixed effects of the consolidation on student achievement. The reform effects were then decomposed using a two-way fixed effects DD estimator (Goodman-Bacon 2021, Callaway, Sant’Anna 2021; Sun, Abraham 2021).

As our results have shown, the main wave of reorganisations took place against the background of a renewed legislative framework and a reduced level of school funding. The consolidation of schools gave additional financial preferences to the participants, but at the same time the schools were deprived of additional payments for status. As a result, the number of schools with some specific characteristics - lyceums, gymnasiums, health schools, as well as schools with in-depth study of certain subjects - was reduced.

Despite the declared voluntary nature of the reorganisation, it was rather systematic: complexes were formed on the basis of proximity, schools with lower results of students were abolished, while the successors were schools that were more successful in exams.

The effects of consolidation on the examination results of secondary school students have been mixed. On the one hand, later reorganisations, which occurred after the main waves of the reform, were the most effective. Against this background, earlier mergers proved to be less successful. On the other hand, comparisons with schools without reform revealed no significant differences.

The effects of the reform on the examination results of high school students are more consistent: in the reorganised schools, the number of students who pass the exams is higher, even when controlling for the size of the school. However, this has not been enough to further increase the results - the number of high scorers. This correlates with the conclusions regarding secondary school exam results: the reformed schools received a boost, but not as much as was expected when the reform was planned.

Keywords:

School consolidation, educational policy, educational reforms, school students' achievement.