IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/umagsb/2018018.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effect of Grade Retention on Secondary School Performance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Ferreira Sequeda, Maria

    (Research Centre for Educ and Labour Mark)

  • Golsteyn, Bart

    (Macro, International & Labour Economics, RS: GSBE DUHR, RS: GSBE Theme Human Decisions and Policy Design, RS: GSBE Theme Learning and Work)

  • Parra Cely, Sergio

    (General Economics 0 (Onderwijs), RS: GSBE DUHR)

Abstract

We study the effects of grade retention on secondary school performance by considering a change in Colombia’s educative legislation. In 2010, the rule that forced schools to retain up to a 5% of students was abolished. Exploiting variation in schools’ retention rates in a difference-in-differences framework, we find that retained (marginally non-retained) students improve (decline) their performance on language but not on math test scores. We suggest the school’s position in the retention distribution, and the proportion of inexperienced teachers in the classroom, can be the mechanisms by which the marginally decreasing returns of grade retention are determined.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferreira Sequeda, Maria & Golsteyn, Bart & Parra Cely, Sergio, 2018. "The Effect of Grade Retention on Secondary School Performance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Research Memorandum 018, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:umagsb:2018018
    DOI: 10.26481/umagsb.2018018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ws/files/26704503/RM18018.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.26481/umagsb.2018018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven G. Rivkin & Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain, 2005. "Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(2), pages 417-458, March.
    2. Peter Fredriksson & Björn Öckert & Hessel Oosterbeek, 2013. "Long-Term Effects of Class Size," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(1), pages 249-285.
    3. Mich�le Belot & Vincent Vandenberghe, 2014. "Evaluating the 'threat' effects of grade repetition: exploiting the 2001 reform by the French-Speaking Community of Belgium," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 73-89, February.
    4. Stefan Bauernschuster & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2016. "Children Of A (Policy) Revolution: The Introduction Of Universal Child Care And Its Effect On Fertility," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 975-1005, August.
    5. Brian A. Jacob & Lars Lefgren, 2004. "Remedial Education and Student Achievement: A Regression-Discontinuity Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 226-244, February.
    6. Brian A. Jacob & Lars Lefgren, 2009. "The Effect of Grade Retention on High School Completion," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(3), pages 33-58, July.
    7. Foureaux Koppensteiner, Martin, 2014. "Automatic grade promotion and student performance: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 277-290.
    8. Marco Manacorda, 2012. "The Cost of Grade Retention," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(2), pages 596-606, May.
    9. Eide, Eric R. & Showalter, Mark H., 2001. "The effect of grade retention on educational and labor market outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 563-576, December.
    10. Mohamed-Badrane Mahjoub, 2017. "The treatment effect of grade repetitions," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 418-432, July.
    11. Havnes, Tarjei & Mogstad, Magne, 2011. "Money for nothing? Universal child care and maternal employment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1455-1465.
    12. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    13. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy, 1999. "Using Maimonides' Rule to Estimate the Effect of Class Size on Scholastic Achievement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 533-575.
    14. Hill, Andrew J., 2014. "The costs of failure: Negative externalities in high school course repetition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 91-105.
    15. Sander Gerritsen & Erik Plug & Dinand Webbink, 2017. "Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: Evidence from a Sample of Dutch Twins," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 643-660, April.
    16. Jane Cooley Fruehwirth & Salvador Navarro & Yuya Takahashi, 2016. "How the Timing of Grade Retention Affects Outcomes: Identification and Estimation of Time-Varying Treatment Effects," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(4), pages 979-1021.
    17. Zelda Brutti & Fabio Sánchez, 2017. "Does Better Teacher Selection Lead to Better Students? Evidence from a Large Scale Reform in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 15350, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    18. repec:oup:qjecon:v:128:y:2012:i:1:p:249-285 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. J. Ignacio Garc𫑐鲥z & Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo & J. Antonio Robles-Zurita, 2014. "Does grade retention affect students' achievement? Some evidence from Spain," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(12), pages 1373-1392, April.
    20. Stefan Bauernschuster & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2016. "Children Of A (Policy) Revolution: The Introduction Of Universal Child Care And Its Effect On Fertility," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 975-1005, August.
    21. Ana María Iregui & Ligia Melo & Jorge Ramos, 2006. "La educación en Colombia: Análisis del marco normativo y de los indicadores sectoriales," Revista de Economía del Rosario, Universidad del Rosario, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Javier Valbuena & Mauro Mediavilla & Álvaro Choi & María Gil, 2021. "Effects Of Grade Retention Policies: A Literature Review Of Empirical Studies Applying Causal Inference," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 408-451, April.
    2. Hugo Reis & Emilio Borghesan, 2022. "Learning Through Repetition? A Dynamic Evaluation of Grade Retention in Portugal," Working Papers w202220, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    3. Ferreira Sequeda, Maria, 2020. "The effect of grade retention on secondary school dropout: Evidence from a natural experiment," ROA Research Memorandum 014, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    4. Ferreira Sequeda, Maria, 2020. "The effect of grade retention on secondary school dropout:," Research Memorandum 037, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    5. Zhang, Shiying & Huang, Ao, 2022. "The long-term effects of automatic grade promotion on child development," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Simon ter Meulen, 2023. "Long-Term Effects of Grade Retention," CESifo Working Paper Series 10212, CESifo.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Javier Valbuena & Mauro Mediavilla & Álvaro Choi & María Gil, 2021. "Effects Of Grade Retention Policies: A Literature Review Of Empirical Studies Applying Causal Inference," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 408-451, April.
    2. Ferreira Sequeda, Maria, 2020. "The effect of grade retention on secondary school dropout: Evidence from a natural experiment," ROA Research Memorandum 014, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    3. Ferreira Sequeda, Maria, 2020. "The effect of grade retention on secondary school dropout:," Research Memorandum 037, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    4. 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.
    5. Álvaro Choi & María Gil & Mauro Mediavilla & Javier Valbuena, 2016. "Double toil and trouble: grade retention and academic performance," Working Papers 2016/7, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    6. Ron Diris, 2017. "Don't Hold Back? The Effect of Grade Retention on Student Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 12(3), pages 312-341, Summer.
    7. Hill, Andrew J. & Jones, Daniel B., 2018. "A teacher who knows me: The academic benefits of repeat student-teacher matches," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-12.
    8. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    9. Foureaux Koppensteiner, Martin, 2014. "Automatic grade promotion and student performance: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 277-290.
    10. Emilio Borghesan & Hugo Reis & Petra E. Todd, 2022. "Learning Through Repetition? A Dynamic Evaluation of Grade Retention in Portugal," PIER Working Paper Archive 22-030, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    11. Luke C. Miller & Daphna Bassok, 2019. "The Effects of Universal Preschool on Grade Retention," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(2), pages 149-177, Spring.
    12. Agasisti, Tommaso & Cordero, Jose M., 2017. "The determinants of repetition rates in Europe: Early skills or subsequent parents’ help?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 129-146.
    13. Hill, Andrew J., 2014. "The costs of failure: Negative externalities in high school course repetition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 91-105.
    14. Baert, Stijn & Picchio, Matteo, 2021. "A signal of (Train)ability? Grade repetition and hiring chances," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 867-878.
    15. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6tve7u8o9k9dv8fanl7utalotr is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Marion Goussé, 2014. "Marriage market and intra-household allocation : essays in economics of family and education [Formation des couples et allocation des ressources au sein des ménages : essais en économie de la famil," SciencePo Working papers Main tel-03516515, HAL.
    17. 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.
    18. Zhang, Shiying & Huang, Ao, 2022. "The long-term effects of automatic grade promotion on child development," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4po7er2pp49baoh37bjdkluouu is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Jane Cooley Fruehwirth & Salvador Navarro & Yuya Takahashi, 2016. "How the Timing of Grade Retention Affects Outcomes: Identification and Estimation of Time-Varying Treatment Effects," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(4), pages 979-1021.
    21. Bach, Maximilian, 2019. "Strategic grade retention," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-059, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    22. Vincenzo Andrietti & Xuejuan Su, 2019. "Education curriculum and student achievement: theory and evidence," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 4-19, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unm:umagsb:2018018. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Andrea Willems or Leonne Portz (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meteonl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.