The effect of weekly instruction time on academic achievement: the Spanish case

Abstract

This research checks if the amount of weekly instruction time received by 15 year-old Spanish students actually affects their academic achievement and if this effect differs by Autonomous Community. The employed student fixed effects between-subjects let us isolate this effect of instruction time from other covariates. Results show that there is not any significant effect of instruction time on academic achievement, being this conclusion extended to the Autonomous Communities under analysis. This result suggests that a previous evaluation of the weekly instruction time set by the Spanish 2013 education law would have been needed before its implementation.