The Effect of Grade Retention on High School Completion

Brian Jacob and Lars Lefgren ()

No 13514, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Low-achieving students in many school districts are retained in a grade in order to allow them to gain the academic or social skills that teachers believe are necessary to succeed academically. This practice is highly controversial, with many researchers claiming that it leads to higher dropout rates although selection issues have complicated previous analyses. In this paper, we use a regression discontinuity design to examine the impact of grade retention on high school completion. We find that grade retention leads to a modest increase in the probability of dropping out for older students, but has no significant effect on younger students.

JEL-codes: I21 I28 J01 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-hrm and nep-ure
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Published as 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.

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Journal Article: The Effect of Grade Retention on High School Completion (2009)
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