This paper studies the educational consequences of language proficiency by investigating the relationship between dialect-speaking and academic performance of 5-6 year old children in the Netherlands. We find that dialect-speaking has a modestly negative effect on language test scores with larger effects on boys. In addition, we study whether there are spillover effects of dialect-speaking on classmates’ academic performance. We find no evidence of any spillover effect of peers’ dialect-speaking.
The academic performance of neither Dutch-speaking children nor dialect-speaking children is affected by the share of dialect-speaking peers in the classroom. Joint with Yuxin Yaoy and Asako Ohinataz.

Keywords: Language, Academic Performance, Spillover Effects
JEL code: J24, I2