This research investigates to what extent the subjective teacher's assessment of children's ability predicts children's outcomes in the transition from primary to secondary school in terms of initial track allocation, track switching in the first three years of secondary education and subsequent test scores. We apply micro-data from the Netherlands about cognitive test scores and teacher's assessment in primary schools and about track placement, track switching and test scores in secondary schools. Our estimates suggest that the subjective teacher's assessment is about twice as important as the primary school cognitive test scores for initial track placement in secondaryThe programs and data used in this paper are available from the authors upon request. We would like to thank Lex Borghans, Flavio Cunha, Bart Golsteyn, Erzo Luttmer, Marc van der Steeg, Dinand Webbink and Karen van der Wiel for comments on an earlier draft. We are also grateful for useful feedback from an anonymous referee, seminar participants at the CPB, Maastricht University and the University of Philadelphia, conference participants at de Nederlandse Economen Dag in Amsterdam, de Onderwijsresearch Dagen in Brussels, the ESPE conference in Braga, the IWAEE conference in Catanzaro, the EALE in Ljubljana and the EALE-SOLE in Montreal. We also thank the feedback of teachers in Communities of Learning where we discussed our work with the field. school. In addition, the teacher's assessment is more predictive of track allocation in 9th grade compared to cognitive test scores. Next, children who switch tracks are more likely to be placed in tracks based on test scores. Also, test scores in 9th grade are predicted by the subjective teacher's assessment, not by test scores in 6th grade. Electronic supplementary material

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Recent policy reports documented that a growing group of students in secondary education could perform better given their expected performance. Studies showed that school performance is related to a range of social-emotional factors, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and responsible decision making. However, experimental studies in schools on the relation between these factors and school performance are scarce, and results are mixed. This study used a randomized field experiment to examine whether self-reflection on school behavior of underperforming secondary school students affected their school performance [grade point average (GPA)], school engagement, and self-concept. The sample comprised 337 ninth-grade students (M = 15.74 years old; SD = 0.58) from 18 secondary schools in Netherlands. The intervention was designed in co-creation with teachers, to be as close to school practice as possible. Underperformance was measured using achievement test scores from both primary and secondary school, supplemented with teacher and parental assessments. Different model specifications were estimated to perform the analyses and test for robustness of findings. The results showed that, for treatment compliance, students with higher school motivation were approximately 29% more likely to comply. Students who reported higher levels of self-concept of school tasks were 17% less likely to comply. No significant effects of the treatment were observed on students' GPA, school motivation, hours spent on homework, or self-concept of school tasks. The treatment showed a negative effect on self-concept of leadership skills.