Allocating Instruction Time: How Language Instruction Can Affect Multiple Skills

There exists substantial variation in how schools allocate instruction time to school subjects. The effectiveness of that allocation depends on the immediate effect of instruction in one subject on achievement in the same subject, on how skills further develop over time, and on possible spillover effects on achievement in other subjects. Exploiting a policy intervention in Dutch primary education, we find that effects of language instruction on language skills fade away quickly, while effects of (early) language instruction on several other skills are long-lasting. The results illustrate that spillover effects can arise in the context of skill acquisition.