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Automatic grade promotion and student performance: Evidence from Brazil

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  • Foureaux Koppensteiner, Martin

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of automatic grade promotion on academic achievement in 1993 public primary schools in Brazil. A difference-in-differences approach that exploits variation over time and across schools in the grade promotion regime allows the identification of the treatment effect of automatic promotion. I find a negative and significant effect of about 7% of a standard deviation on math test scores. I provide evidence in support of the interpretation of the estimates as a disincentive effect of automatic promotion. The findings contribute to the understanding of retention policies by focussing on the ex-ante effect of repetition and are important for more complete cost–benefit considerations of grade retention.

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  • Foureaux Koppensteiner, Martin, 2014. "Automatic grade promotion and student performance: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 277-290.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:107:y:2014:i:c:p:277-290
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.12.007
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    Cited by:

    1. Leighton, Margaret & Souza, Priscila & Straub, Stéphane, 2016. "Social Promotion in Primary School: Immediate and Cumulated Effects on Attainment," TSE Working Papers 16-649, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    2. Karthik Muralidharan & Abhijeet Singh & Alejandro J. Ganimian, 2019. "Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(4), pages 1426-1460, April.
    3. Jones, Sam, 2016. "How does classroom composition affect learning outcomes in Ugandan primary schools?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 66-78.
    4. Ryu, Hanbyul & Helfand, Steven M. & Moreira, Roni Barbosa, 2020. "Starting early and staying longer: The effects of a Brazilian primary schooling reform on student performance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    5. Ferreira Sequeda, Maria & Golsteyn, Bart & Parra Cely, Sergio, 2018. "The effect of grade retention on secondary school performance: Evidence from a natural experiment," ROA Research Memorandum 003, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    6. Koppensteiner, Martin Foureaux & Matheson, Jesse, 2019. "Secondary School Enrolment and Teenage Childbearing: Evidence from Brazilian Municipalities," IZA Discussion Papers 12504, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner & Jesse Matheson, 2021. "Secondary Schools and Teenage Childbearing: Evidence from the School Expansion in Brazilian Municipalities," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(4), pages 1019-1037.
    8. Servaas van der Berg & Gabrielle Wills & Rebecca Selkirk & Charles Adams & Chris van Wyk, 2019. "The cost of repetition in South Africa," Working Papers 13/2019, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    9. Cabrera Hernández, Francisco-Javier, 2016. "Essays on the impact evaluation of education policies in Mexico," Economics PhD Theses 0316, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    10. Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner & Jesse Matheson, 2016. "Access to education and teenage childbearing," Discussion Papers in Economics 16/15, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    11. Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner & Jesse Matheson, 2016. "Access to Education and Teenage Pregnancy," CINCH Working Paper Series 1604, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health, revised Aug 2016.
    12. Zoltan Hermann & Marianna Kopasz, 2018. "Educational policies and the gender gap in test scores: A cross-country analysis," Budapest Working Papers on the Labour Market 1805, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    13. Daniel Alejandro Pinzón Hernández, 2018. "Reprobación y desempeno académico: Evidencia de la implementación de la promoción automática en Colombia," Documentos CEDE 16198, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Grade retention; Automatic promotion; Incentives to learn; Primary education; Brazil;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education

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