scholarly journals High-School Exit Examinations and the Schooling Decisions of Teenagers: Evidence From Regression-Discontinuity Approaches

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Papay ◽  
Richard J. Murnane ◽  
John B. Willett
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Exit Examinations ◽  
Schooling Decisions ◽  
High School Exit

State High School Exit Examinations and Postsecondary Labor Market Outcomes

2008 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Warren Warren ◽  
Eric Grodsky ◽  
Jennifer C. Lee
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
Exit Examinations ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Labor Force Status ◽  
Central Hypothesis ◽  
High School Exit ◽  
Using Data

Since the late 1970s, an increasing number of states have required students to pass statewide high school exit examinations (HSEEs) in order to graduate. States have usually adopted HSEEs in response to the perception that a substantial number of graduates lack skills that are required for success in the modern economy. What do these educational reforms mean for students' postsecondary economic and labor market prospects? The central hypothesis of the study presented here was that state HSEE policies have the effect of widening gaps in labor force status and earnings between young people who have high school diplomas and those who do not. To test this hypothesis, the authors modeled the association between state HSEE policies and these labor market outcomes using data from the 1980–2000 U.S. censuses and the 1984–2002 Outgoing Rotation Groups of the Current Population Survey. The results revealed no evidence that state HSEEs positively affect labor force status or earnings or that the connections between state HSEE policies and these outcomes vary by students' race/ethnicity or the level of difficulty of state HSEEs.

High School Exit Examinations and State-Level Completion and GED Rates, 1975 Through 2002

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Robert Warren ◽  
Krista N. Jenkins ◽  
Rachael B. Kulick
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
State Level ◽  
High School Completion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Exit Examinations ◽  
School Completion ◽  
High School Exit

This article investigates the extent to which state-mandated high school exit examinations are associated with state-level public high school completion rates in the United States. The authors estimate a series of state and year fixed effects models using a new measure of state-level public high school completion rates and archival information about states’ policies on high school exit examinations from 1975 through 2002. The study finds that state high school exit examinations—particularly the “more difficult” examinations that have been implemented recently in some states—are associated with lower public high school completion rates and higher rates of General Educational Development test taking. Furthermore, the study finds that the association between state policies on high school exit examinations and public high school completion grows stronger as states become more racially and ethnically diverse and as poverty rates increase.

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