Match effects and matchmaking in education (MatchEd)

Which is the best school? In Norway, as in most other countries, students, parents, and policymakers ask this question every year. Schools are ranked by admission cutoffs and value-added models, and politicians pledge to improve the trailing schools. However, if different students thrive in different schools, the question itself may not make sense. In that case, there is no single "best" school - only better matches between students and schools.

MatchEd explores how and why different ways of assigning students to schools, programs, and educational tracks affect academic outcomes, motivation, and equality of opportunity. A key objective is to uncover not only whether certain schools or programs benefit specific students more than others, but also the underlying reasons behind these differences. Specifically, the project aims to understand why certain educational environments lead to better student performance, engagement, or career outcomes for particular groups.

Using interdisciplinary methods drawn from economics and education policy, the project employs robust, data-driven causal analyses to identify the conditions under which student-school compatibility matters most, examine how students respond to different admission policies, and understand the factors that influence students' choices between academic and vocational education paths. Additionally, the project investigates whether early or late educational specialization impacts students' long-term educational success and employment opportunities.

Ultimately, MatchEd seeks to deliver practical insights that can be translated into evidence-based recommendations to policymakers and educators, helping to design fairer and more effective educational systems by revealing not just how matching matters, but fundamentally why it does.

Funder: Norwegian Research Council (project number 358940)

Project period: 2026 – 2030