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American Economic Journal: Applied Economics: Vol. 1 No. 3 (July 2009)

AEJ: Applied Volume. 1, Issue 3 | Previous ArticleNext Article

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The Effect of Grade Retention on High School Completion

Article Citation

Jacob, Brian A., and Lars Lefgren. 2009. "The Effect of Grade Retention on High School Completion." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1(3): 33-58.

DOI: 10.1257/app.1.3.33

Abstract

Low-achieving students in many school districts are retained in a grade to allow them to gain the academic or social skills that teachers believe are necessary to succeed academically. In this paper, we use plausibly exogenous variation in retention generated by a test-based promotion policy to assess the causal impact of grade retention on high school completion. We find that retention among younger students does not affect the likelihood of high school completion, but that retaining low-achieving eighth grade students in elementary school substantially increases the probability that these students will drop out of high school. (JEL I21, J13)

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Authors

Jacob, Brian A. (U MI)
Lefgren, Lars (Brigham Young U)

JEL Classifications

I21: Analysis of Education
J13: Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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