Promotion with and without Learning : Effects on Student Enrollment and Dropout Behavior

Many educators and policymakers have argued for lenient grade promotion policy - even automatic promotion - in developing country settings where grade retention rates are high. The argument assumes that grade retention discourages persistence or continuation in school and that the promotion of children with lower achievement does not hamper their ability or their peers' ability to perform at the next level. Alternatively, promoting students into grades for which they are not prepared may lead to early dropout behavior. This study shows that in a sample of schools from the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan, students are promoted primarily on the basis of merit. An econometric decomposition of promotion decisions into a component that is based on merit indicators (attendance and achievement in mathematics and language) and another that is uncorrelated with those indicators allows a test of whether parental decisions to keep their child in school is influenced by merit-based or non-merit-based promotions. Results suggest that the enrollment decision is significantly influenced by whether learning has taken place, and that grade promotion that is uncorrelated with merit has a negligible impact on school continuation.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	King, Elizabeth M., Orazem, Peter F., Paterno, Elizabeth M.
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2008-09
Subjects:	ABSENTEEISM RATES, ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, ACADEMIC PROGRESS, ACADEMIC YEAR, ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS, ACHIEVEMENT TESTS, AGE-GRADE DISTORTION, APTITUDE, ASSESSMENT SYSTEM, ATTENDANCE RATE, AVERAGE SCORE, AVERAGE TEST SCORES, BASIC EDUCATION, BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM, BASIC LITERACY, BOOK DEVELOPMENT, BOOK PROVISION, CENTRAL AMERICAN, CHILD EDUCATION, CLASS SIZE, CLASSROOM, CLASSROOMS, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, COMPETENCIES, COMPULSORY EDUCATION, CURRICULUM, DAY SCHOOL, DECENTRALIZATION, DECISION MAKING, DEGREES, DISTANCE TO SCHOOL, DROPOUT RATES, EARLY DROPOUT, EARLY GRADES, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION, EDUCATED PARENTS, EDUCATION LAW, EDUCATION MANAGEMENT, EDUCATION POLICIES, EDUCATION POLICY, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS, EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION, EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES, EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, EDUCATORS, EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS, EIGHTH-GRADERS, ELEMENTS, ENTRANCE EXAMINATION, EXAM, EXAMS, GENDER DIFFERENCES, GIRLS, GRADE REPETITION, GRADE RETENTION, HIGH SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, HIGHER GRADES, HIGHER TEST SCORES, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN CAPITAL EARNINGS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, ILLITERATE PARENTS, IMPROVING PRIMARY EDUCATION, INSTRUCTION, KINDERGARTEN, LABOR FORCE, LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION, LEARNING, LITERACY, LITERATURE, LOCAL SCHOOLS, LOWER ACHIEVEMENT, MALE STUDENT, MATH ACHIEVEMENT, NUMBER OF STUDENTS, NUMERACY, OFFICIAL CURRICULUM, OLDER CHILDREN, PAPERS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, PEER GROUP, POOR PEOPLE, PRIMARY CYCLE, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY LEVEL, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS, PRIMARY SCHOOLING, PRIMARY SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOL, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, PUBLIC SCHOOL, QUALITY EDUCATION, QUALITY SCHOOLS, RATES OF RETURN, REMEDIAL EDUCATION, REPEATERS, REPETITION RATE, REPETITION RATES, RESEARCHERS, RETENTION RATE, RETENTION RATES, SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOL AUTONOMY, SCHOOL COST, SCHOOL DAY, SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, SCHOOL FACILITIES, SCHOOL LEVEL, SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, SCHOOL QUALITY, SCHOOL RECORDS, SCHOOL SUPPORT, SCHOOL SYSTEM, SCHOOL SYSTEMS, SCHOOL YEAR, SCHOOL YEARS, SCHOOLING, SCHOOLS, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SOUTH AMERICAN, STANDARDIZED TESTS, STUDENT ABSENTEEISM, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, STUDENT ASSESSMENT, STUDENT ASSESSMENTS, STUDENT ATTAINMENT, STUDENT ATTENDANCE, STUDENT DROPOUT, STUDENT ENROLLMENT, STUDENT LEARNING, STUDENT OUTCOMES, STUDENT PERFORMANCE, STUDENT SKILLS, TEACHER, TEACHER ABSENTEEISM, TEACHER ATTITUDES, TEACHER INCENTIVES, TEACHER PROMOTION, TEACHERS, TEST SCORES, TESTS OF MATHEMATICS, TEXTBOOK,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/09/9881999/promotion-without-learning-effects-student-enrollment-dropout-behavior https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6974
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