How Performance Information Affects Human-Capital Investment Decisions: The Impact of Test-Score Labels on Educational Outcomes /
Papay, John P.
How Performance Information Affects Human-Capital Investment Decisions: The Impact of Test-Score Labels on Educational Outcomes / John P. Papay, Richard J. Murnane, John B. Willett. - Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011. - 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white); - NBER working paper series no. w17120 . - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17120. .
June 2011.
Students receive abundant information about their educational performance, but how this information affects future educational-investment decisions is not well understood. Increasingly common sources of information are state-mandated standardized tests. On these tests, students receive a score and a label that summarizes their performance. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we find persistent effects of earning a more positive label on the college-going decisions of urban, low-income students. Consistent with a Bayesian-updating model, these effects are concentrated among students with weaker priors, specifically those who report before taking the test that they do not plan to attend a four-year college.
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
How Performance Information Affects Human-Capital Investment Decisions: The Impact of Test-Score Labels on Educational Outcomes / John P. Papay, Richard J. Murnane, John B. Willett. - Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011. - 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white); - NBER working paper series no. w17120 . - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17120. .
June 2011.
Students receive abundant information about their educational performance, but how this information affects future educational-investment decisions is not well understood. Increasingly common sources of information are state-mandated standardized tests. On these tests, students receive a score and a label that summarizes their performance. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we find persistent effects of earning a more positive label on the college-going decisions of urban, low-income students. Consistent with a Bayesian-updating model, these effects are concentrated among students with weaker priors, specifically those who report before taking the test that they do not plan to attend a four-year college.
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.