The effects of test-based retention on student outcomes over time: Regression discontinuity evidence from Florida

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. We exploit a discontinuity in the probability of third grade retention under Florida's test-based promotion policy to study the causal effect of retention on student outcomes over time.Although conventional OLS estimates suggest negative effects of retention on achievement, regression discontinuity estimates indicate large positive effects on achievement and a reduced probability of retention in subsequent years. The achievement gains from test-based retention fade out over time, however, and are statistically insignificant after six years.JEL Classification: H52, I21, I28

Does family structure affect children's academic outcomes? Evidence for Spain

“…At around 30%, the high grade retention rate, which is a warning sign of school failure and a good predictor of school dropouts, is an important issue in Spain. Several studies support the hypothesis that repeating a grade is often the main predictor of school failure (Jimerson, Anderson, & Whipple, 2002;Roderick, 1994), although others conclude that grade retention can be beneficial for students (Schwerdt & West, 2013). Accordingly, the analysis in this research focuses on the impact of non-nuclear family structure on both educational outcomes.…”

School Starting Age and Cognitive Development

“…School retention prior to grade three is defined as an indicator variable that equals one if a child is observed twice in the same grade. Florida has a mandatory retention policy in grade three, and thus we are unable to utilize retention as a school behavior measure after grade two (Ozek, ; Schwerdt et al., ).…”

Modeling the effects of grade retention in high school

“…In 2009 in the OECD, on average, 13% of 15-year-olds are reported to have repeated at least 1 year either in primary or high school (OECD, 2012). By contrast, in other countries such as the USA there has been a revival of policies supporting retention when a certain level of academic achievement is not attained by third grade (Schwerdt, West, & Winters, 2015). In France, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium more than 30% of 15-year-olds are reported to have some delay in their school curriculum.…”

“…First, we not only consider educational achievement as outcome (as the other authors using the FADM approach), but also the high school dropout (as, e.g., Jacob & Lefgren, 2009), the delay by the end of secondary education (as, e.g., Schwerdt et al, 2015), and the attained track level. First, we not only consider educational achievement as outcome (as the other authors using the FADM approach), but also the high school dropout (as, e.g., Jacob & Lefgren, 2009), the delay by the end of secondary education (as, e.g., Schwerdt et al, 2015), and the attained track level.…”