Which Teaching Practices Improve Student Performance on High-Stakes Exams? Evidence from Russia

This study examines the relationship between student achievement and teaching practices aimed at raising student performance on a high stakes college entrance examination—the Russian Unified State Exam (USE). Data come from a survey of 3000 students conducted in 2010 in three Russian regions, and the analysis employs a student fixed effects method that estimates the impact of mathematics and Russian language teachers’ practices in advanced and basic tracks on students’ exam results. The study finds that the only practices positively affecting test outcomes are greater amounts of subject-specific homework, and that the most effective type of homework differs across tracks.