The Long-Term Impacts of Low-Achieving Childhood Peers: Evidence from Project STAR

Jan Bietenbeck

No 9449, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper evaluates how sharing a kindergarten classroom with low-achieving repeaters affects the long-term educational performance of regular first-time kindergarten students. Exploiting random assignment of teachers and students to classes in Project STAR, I document three sets of causal impacts: students who are exposed to repeaters (1) score lower on standardized tests at the end of kindergarten, an effect that fades out in later grades; (2) show persistent improvements in non-cognitive skills such as effort and discipline; and (3) are more likely to graduate from high school and to take a college entrance exam around the age of eighteen. I show that the positive spillovers from repeaters on long-term educational attainment are likely driven by the differential accumulation of non-cognitive skills by repeater-exposed students during childhood. The improvements in these skills are in turn a result of behavioral adjustments by teachers, students, or parents to the presence of low-achieving repeaters in the classroom.

Keywords: peer effects; long-term outcomes; non-cognitive skills; Project STAR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2015-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published - revised version published in: Journal of the European Economic Association, 2020, 18(1), 392-426

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Long-Term Impacts of Low-Achieving Childhood Peers: Evidence from Project STAR (2020)
Working Paper: The Long-Term Impacts of Low-Achieving Childhood Peers: Evidence from Project STAR (2015)
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