Results from international standardized tests show large cross-country differences in students' performances. Where do these gaps come from? This paper argues that differences in cultural environments and parental inputs may be of great importance. We show that the school performance of...

In this study we investigate the relationship between student achievement and a crucial aspect of teaching: curriculum implementation strategies. More specifically, we consider three strategies representing teachers' approach in dealing with heterogeneous classes: i) spending time on the same...

Using panel data on Italian students from 2013 to 2019, we compare the effect of a student’s class rank to the effect of class quality in primary school on subsequent academic outcomes. We propose a new strategy to identify the impact of rank while controlling for peer effects, by leveraging...