Assessing potential improvement in education: Unravelling pupils' and schools’ inefficiencies using a multi-level metafrontier approach

How relevant is a better use of schooling resources to improve learning outcomes? Though the optimal management of public funding is always desirable, achievement improvement might also depend on student and school level factors beyond efficiency. Using data from public primary schools in Uruguay, we discuss the role of the school efficiency gains in the potential attainment improvement of pupils. Our empirical approach resorts to a multilevel metafrontier model based on non-parametric methods to identify the sources of pupils' under-attainment. The results reveal that pure school inefficiencies per se are hardly relevant to enhance students’ performance while the effect of school resources is still sizable. We also find that school-level efficiency gaps affect the most disadvantaged students and school-types within the public system. The research highlights the importance of correctly assessing the range and roots of potential improvement from schooling efficiency policies, particularly in contexts characterized by scarcity of resources.