Abstract:

Running schools by group is an effective measure to promote the high-quality and balanced development of compulsory education, and is also an important means to promote educational equity. This study explores the impact of running schools by group on students’ non-cognitive skills based on the survey data of 8 counties (districts) in 3 cities (prefectures) of Y province. The study found that, first, running schools by group can significantly enhance the emotional stability, school adaptation, and self-control ability of both urban and rural students, and the conclusion is still valid after the introduction of instrumental variables to correct the endogenous problems. Secondly, the heterogeneity analysis shows that running schools by group had a greater positive impact on rural students above the intermediate ability level, demonstrating a distinct superiority effect in emotional stability, self-esteem, and self-control ability. Thirdly, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition results suggests that running schools by group can explain a large extent of urban-rural students’ non-cognitive skills gap, and this effect is mainly due to the difference in the rate of return to study in running schools by group. It is suggested to further optimize the distribution of running schools by group in counties, improve the cross-organizational operation mechanism of driving rural areas by cities, and provide compensatory support for disadvantaged student groups, so as to promote the fair and quality development of compulsory education in urban and rural areas.

Key words: running schools by group, non-cognitive skills, high-quality balance