Impacts of Third-Grade Retention and Grade Placement in North Carolina (Poster 1)

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Over the past two decades, numerous states have implemented policies requiring retention for those third-grade students who do not meet their state’s grade-level standards in reading. Despite evidence of positive short- and medium-term effects, teachers and parents remain concerned about the effects of these policies on the longer-run outcomes of children, particularly for students in traditionally disadvantaged groups such as English learners. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of North Carolina’s Read to Achieve third-grade retention policy on the short- and medium-run outcomes of students in using a regression discontinuity design. In addition to assessing the effects of this policy overall, this research will highlight the effects of Read to Achieve on English learners, a group that recent research suggests may be especially likely to benefit from retainment. This analysis on Read to Achieve will be supplemented by a regression discontinuity and descriptive analysis on the effect of grade placement on the longer-term outcomes of English learners in North Carolina. Our poster presentation will present preliminary findings of this work.

Author

• Catherine Armstrong Asher, University of Michigan