Does test-based accountability improve more than just test scores?

Katherine McElroy

Economics of Education Review, 2023, vol. 94, issue C

Abstract: This paper estimates the long-run effects of school accountability on educational attainment by exploiting two sources of variation: staggered implementation of accountability across states and individuals’ exposure to accountability. I find 12 years of exposure to school accountability leads to an increase in the likelihood of graduating high school by 2.3 percentage points but has no statistically significant effect on college attendance or the likelihood of receiving a Bachelor's degree. However, racial heterogeneity shows Hispanic students experience a significant increase in the likelihood of attending college. I rule out changes in school expenditures and teacher characteristics as potential mechanisms and present suggestive evidence that schools are classifying more students as learning disabled. Lastly, accountability is more effective in conjunction with promotion gates.

Keywords: Educational economics; Human capital; School accountability; Educational attainment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 I21 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:94:y:2023:i:c:s0272775723000286

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102381

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