Twenty-eighth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

This longitudinal study looked into the impact of average government spending on education, elementary, secondary, and higher education, on the learning outcomes and scholarly production for seven Arab countries. Data looked into the past fifteen years and were retrieved from international databases. Learning outcomes were measured using international tests, such as PISA and PIRLS, and scholarly production was measured using internationally renowned scientometrics. Multilevel longitudinal analyses revealed that more spending is associated with better academic outcomes, but that effect plateaus after hitting a certain cutoff. Also, the effect was observed at different rates for different educational levels and gender. Similarly, scholarly production is affected by research funding but the effect is plateaued out at a certain level. These patterns seem to hold for all the Arab countries that were chosen for the study. Overall, this study highlights the importance of education spending and its impact on the end result of education.