The Impact of Alternative Grade Configurations on Student Outcomes through Middle and High School

Guido Schwerdt and Martin R. West ()
Additional contact information
Martin R. West: Harvard University

No 6208, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We use statewide administrative data from Florida to estimate the impact of attending public schools with different grade configurations on student achievement through grade 10. Based on an instrumental variable estimation strategy, we find that students moving from elementary to middle school suffer a sharp drop in student achievement in the transition year. These achievement drops persist through grade 10. We also find that middle school entry increases student absences and is associated with higher grade 10 dropout rates. Transitions to high school in grade nine cause a smaller one-time drop in achievement but do not alter students' performance trajectories.

Keywords: high schools; grade configuration; public schools; educational production; middle schools (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H52 I21 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2011-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lab and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - published in: Journal of Public Economics, 2013, 97 (C), 308-326

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp6208.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The impact of alternative grade configurations on student outcomes through middle and high school (2013)
Working Paper: The Impact of Alternative Grade Configurations on Student Outcomes through Middle and High School (2011)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6208

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().