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ERIC Number: EJ1030363
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1934-5747
EISSN: N/A
High-School Exit Examinations and the Schooling Decisions of Teenagers: Evidence from Regression-Discontinuity Approaches
Papay, John P.; Murnane, Richard J.; Willett, John B.
Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, v7 n1 p1-27 2014
We examine whether barely failing one or more state-mandated high school exit examinations in Massachusetts affects the probability that students enroll in college. We extend the exit examination literature in two ways. First, we explore longer term effects of failing these tests. We find that barely failing an exit examination, for students on the margin of passing, reduces the probability of college attendance several years after the test. Second, we explore potential interactions that arise because students must pass exit examinations in both mathematics and English language arts in order to graduate from high school. We adopt a variety of regression-discontinuity approaches to address situations where multiple variables assign individuals to a range of treatments; some of these approaches enable us to examine whether the effect of barely failing one examination depends on student performance on the other. We document the range of causal effects estimated by each approach. We argue that each approach presents opportunities and limitations for making causal inferences in such situations and that the choice of approach should match the question of interest.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A