We study the impact of classroom rank on children’s learning using a unique experiment from Ecuador. Within each school, students were randomly assigned to classrooms in every grade between kindergarten and 6th grade. Students with the same ability can have different classroom ranks because of the (random) peer composition of their classroom. Children with higher beginning-of-grade classroom rank have significantly higher test scores at the end of that grade. The impact of classroom rank is larger for younger children and grows over time. Higher classroom rank also improves executive function, child happiness, and teacher perceptions of student ability.
Authors

Research Fellow University College London
Pedro is a Professor of Economics at University College London and an economist in the IFS' Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice (cemmap).


Research Associate University of Essex
Francesca is an IFS Research Associate, a Research Fellow in the Research Department of the Bank of Italy and also a Research Affiliate at IZA.

Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.47004/wp.cem.2023.1923
- Publisher
- Institute for Fiscal Studies
Suggested citation
Carneiro, P et al. (2023). The effect of classroom rank on learning throughout elementary school: experimental evidence from Ecuador. CWP19/23. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/effect-classroom-rank-learning-throughout-elementary-school-experimental-evidence (accessed: 19 June 2025).
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