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Threat of Grade Retention, Remedial Education and Student Achievement: Evidence from Upper Secondary Schools in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Battistin, Erich

    (University of Maryland)

  • Schizzerotto, Antonio

    (IRVAPP)

Abstract
We use a reform that was recently implemented in Italy to investigate the effects on academic achievement of more stringent requirements for the admission to the next grade at upper secondary school. We study how such effects are mediated by changes in family and school inputs, and in the student commitment to learn all school subjects including those usually considered as marginal components of the curriculum. Geographical discontinuities in the implementation of the reform allow us to set out the comparison of similar students undergoing alternative progression rules, and to shed light on whether, and to what extent, the reform has worked as a tool to improve short-term achievement gains. We document differential effects across curricular tracks, picturing at best – depending on the data employed – a marginal improvement for students in academic schools. We instead find sharp negative effects of the reform in technical and vocational schools, where the students enrolled come from less privileged backgrounds. These findings are accompanied by a substantial increase in the number of activities out of the normal school hours in technical and vocational schools, but not in academic schools. Also, we find that the reform has left unchanged the various family inputs that we consider, and that parents did not provide extra economic support to students facing an increased threat of grade retention. However, in contrast with the documented effects on achievement, we find that schools reacted to the additional administrative burdens and costs imposed by the reform by admitting more students to the next grade. We thus conclude that the reform has had a negative effect on motivation and engagement of the most struggling students, thus exacerbating existing inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Battistin, Erich & Schizzerotto, Antonio, 2012. "Threat of Grade Retention, Remedial Education and Student Achievement: Evidence from Upper Secondary Schools in Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 7086, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7086
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Victor Lavy & Assaf Kott & Genia Rachkovski, 2022. "Does Remedial Education in Late Childhood Pay Off After All? Long-Run Consequences for University Schooling, Labor Market Outcomes, and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(1), pages 239-282.
    3. Hugo Reis & Emilio Borghesan, 2022. "Learning Through Repetition? A Dynamic Evaluation of Grade Retention in Portugal," Working Papers w202220, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    4. Hvidman, Charlotte & Koch, Alexander K. & Nafziger, Julia & Nielsen, Søren Albeck & Rosholm, Michael, 2024. "An intensive, school-based learning camp targeting academic and non-cognitive skills evaluated in a randomized trial," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Nielsen, Søren Albeck, 2023. "Boys left behind: The effects of summer camp and follow-up strategies on academic, personal, and social competencies," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    6. Eren, Ozkan & Depew, Briggs & Barnes, Stephen, 2017. "Test-based promotion policies, dropping out, and juvenile crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 9-31.
    7. Zhang, Shiying & Huang, Ao, 2022. "The long-term effects of automatic grade promotion on child development," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    8. Zoltan Hermann & Marianna Kopasz, 2018. "Educational policies and the gender gap in test scores: A cross-country analysis," Budapest Working Papers on the Labour Market 1805, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    remedial education; quasi experimental designs; policy evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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