Consequences of Scoring Barely Below the Passing Score of High School Exit Exams in Minnesota

• In Event: The Implications of Testing Teachers and Students

Abstract

I use the case of Minnesota which set a high passing standard for its math high school exit exam, but later waived the passing requirement for obtaining a high school diploma, to investigate the consequences of barely failing on students’ high school outcomes. Using the Minnesota Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (SLEDS) dataset, I find that for reading, where passing requirements were not waived, there were negative effects on high school withdrawal and dropout for the first exam cohort, but these effects faded out for subsequent cohorts. In contrast for math, I find that negative effects grew stronger over cohorts, suggesting that, other than graduation eligibility, signal from the passing score may influence students' high school outcomes.

Author

• Yi Xe Thng, Singapore Ministry of Education