Does school matter for educational achievement? A two-way nested-error components analysis

School effectiveness is a much-debated question both at an analytical level and as a policy issue. In this paper we used a two-way nested-error components educational production function model to evaluate the relative importance of latent class and school variables in explaining student school achievement. The analysis is carried out with a sample of Montreal francophone public elementary school students. As for the observable variables, the empirical results suggest that the latent class and school variables are negligible with respect to the latent personal and socioeconomic variables. Related policy issues are discussed in the conclusion.