Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Ferreira Sequeda, Maria 
Author-workplace-name: Research Centre for Educ and Labour Mark
Author-Name: Golsteyn, Bart
Author-workplace-name: Macro, International & Labour Economics, RS: GSBE DUHR, RS: GSBE Theme Human Decisions and Policy Design, RS: GSBE Theme Learning and Work
Author-Name: Parra Cely, Sergio
Author-workplace-name: General Economics 0 (Onderwijs), RS: GSBE DUHR
Title: The Effect of Grade Retention on Secondary School Performance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
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.
Classification-JEL: i20,i24,j24
Series: GSBE Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 20180618
Number: 018
File-URL: https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ws/files/26704503/RM18018.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 1355250
Handle: Repec:unm:umagsb:2018018
DOI: 10.26481/umagsb.2018018