Does Skipping or Repeating a Grade Affect Self-Assessed Intelligence?
Abstract
In the United States, 1.5% of all children repeated a grade in 2010 and grade skipping has come under criticism. When examining the impact of skipping or repeating, the economics literature presents contradictory results often based on flawed methodology. I utilize self-assessed intelligence data, and a strong set of covariates, from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Heath to determine whether grade skipping or grade retention have an impact on school age students. Self-assessed intelligence may be free of some of the problems present in the outcome variables used in previous studies, such as academic performance. I find that grade skipping has a significant negative effect on self-assessed intellegence, while the results on grade skipping are insignificant. Consequently, school administrators may need to reevaluate their current policies.
Session Name:
Education Policy Panel
Start Date
22-4-2016 9:00 AM
End Date
22-4-2016 10:00 AM
Location
HSB 201
Does Skipping or Repeating a Grade Affect Self-Assessed Intelligence?
HSB 201
In the United States, 1.5% of all children repeated a grade in 2010 and grade skipping has come under criticism. When examining the impact of skipping or repeating, the economics literature presents contradictory results often based on flawed methodology. I utilize self-assessed intelligence data, and a strong set of covariates, from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Heath to determine whether grade skipping or grade retention have an impact on school age students. Self-assessed intelligence may be free of some of the problems present in the outcome variables used in previous studies, such as academic performance. I find that grade skipping has a significant negative effect on self-assessed intellegence, while the results on grade skipping are insignificant. Consequently, school administrators may need to reevaluate their current policies.