To Build or to Teach? The Impact of the Megacolegios on Performance in Saber 11° Standardized Test

Since 2004, the district of Bogotá has built massively schools of great capacity and infraestructure known as Megacolegios (Mega-schools). By 2010, the city counted with 42 new school which were built in the areas of the city with the highest demand for educational access. This paper uses matching techniques to measure the impact of the megacolegios in the students performance on the Saber 11° estandarized test. The results show that the megacolegios have no impact on the students performance. Nevertheless, The megacolegios do mitigate the negative relation between performance and some students characteristics like over age.