Exploring Initiatives to Address Dropout Rates in Spanish Education
On January 31st, Funcas hosted a virtual event aimed at discussing potential educational measures to reduce the dropout rate in Spain. The video recording of the event is now available on the YouTube channel.
Desiderio Romero, Professor of Applied Economics at URJC, initiated the session by highlighting recent data from the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, and Sports indicating a slight decrease in Spain’s early school leaving rate in 2023. It dropped by 0.3% compared to the previous year, reaching 13.6%. This figure represents a significant improvement compared to the previous decade when the dropout rate was 23.6%.
Aitor Lacuesta, Division Chief of Structural Analysis at the Bank of Spain, presented findings showing that cohorts born after 2000 have increased their enrollment in intermediate vocational training (FP media) after completing compulsory education (ESO) and advanced vocational training (FP superior) after completing high school (bachillerato). The data reveal a notable decline in the percentage of students who do not pursue further studies after graduating from ESO, dropping from 9% for men and 8% for women in the 1990s cohorts to 2% and 1%, respectively, for those born in the early 21st century. Moreover, the return on investment for pursuing FP media or bachillerato has increased from around 10% for men and 13% for women in 2007 to 18% and 26%, respectively, in 2019. These findings indicate that pursuing education is becoming increasingly profitable in Spain. Disseminating this information to young people and parents could be one of the measures to reduce the dropout rate.
Marisa Hidalgo, Associate Professor of Economic Analysis at Pablo de Olavide University, discussed the results of a study conducted with Marianna Battaglia on the effectiveness of reinforcement programs in the Madrid region for both primary and secondary students. The research reveals that support programs are more effective for struggling students who are close to passing than for those far below the passing threshold. The study demonstrates the causal effect of the primary reinforcement program, showing a growing positive impact over the years of implementation, resulting in an increase of more than 10% in the standard deviation (equivalent to what is learned in a quarter) and a 5% increase in the pass rate. Conversely, the secondary reinforcement program initially has a positive effect that diminishes over time. These findings underscore the need to identify learning problems in students from primary school, where reinforcement programs are most effective.
Ana Hidalgo, Associate Professor of Economic Analysis at the Autonomous University of Madrid, noted that school dropout disproportionately affects students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly boys. Empirical evidence demonstrates that teachers play a crucial role in the educational process. There is a significant challenge in schools with social disadvantages, which often face high teacher turnover. This implies that many teachers do not accumulate the necessary experience to optimize their teaching.
Additionally, evidence suggests that teaching ability is malleable. Mentorship and feedback programs, where experienced and effective teachers support their colleagues facing challenges, can accelerate teachers’ professional development. Moreover, teachers highly value cooperation with their peers and support from principals, psychologists, and social workers. Ana Hidalgo highlighted that among school principals in Spain, 58.8% report the absence of a mentorship program for teachers in their institutes. This percentage is significantly higher than the OECD average of 36.0%. This indicates that in more than half of the schools in Spain, according to principals, there is no formal system of support and professional guidance for teachers, a tool that can be crucial for professional development and improving educational quality.
In the latter part of the virtual event, I had the opportunity to present some successful measures implemented in other countries to reduce dropout rates. Firstly, addressing the needs of vulnerable groups is crucial for decreasing the dropout rate. Gershenson et al. (2022) demonstrate in the US that assigning at least one black teacher to black students in primary school increased the likelihood of high school graduation by 9 percentage points and access to university or vocational training by 6 points. Battaglia and Lebedinski (2022) show that low-performing students can achieve better academic outcomes by following the footsteps of role models.
Another discussed measure is to increase compulsory education from 16 to 18 years in Spain, which could potentially reduce the dropout rate by 50%, based on experiences in other countries. The change in the minimum leaving age from 14 to 15 years in the UK had a significant and immediate effect, redirecting almost half of the young population to stay in school for an additional year, according to Oreopoulos (2006).
The third measure discussed is to conduct advertising campaigns targeting 14, 15, or 16-year-olds to explain the importance of not dropping out before completing intermediate vocational training (FP media) or high school (bachillerato). Fryer’s study (2016) describes a field experiment where students received daily text messages about the relationship between human capital and future outcomes. It finds that four years after the experiment, there is a statistically significant impact on university entrance exams of up to 0.13 standard deviations, equivalent to what a student learns in a school quarter.