Grade Repetition Reduction Efficiency
RCTReview
High grade repetition rates in secondary education create severe system bottlenecks, inflating per-student public expenditures and increasing student dropout risks.
Picture this
Imagine a driving school where students who fail a single test must repeat an entire year of classes from scratch, crowding classrooms and discouraging learners. Giving students a strong financial incentive to pass on their first attempt accelerates graduation rates and frees up seats for new students.
What the evidence says
Voucher allocation reduced 6th-grade repetition rates by 5.3 to 6.3 percentage points, driving an 8.7 to 9.4 percentage point increase in 8th-grade completion rates (64.3% vs 54.9%) without increasing student dropout rates.
- Who was studied
- N = 1,176 human secondary school voucher applicants evaluated across 3-year longitudinal survey follow-ups in Bogotá, Colombia.
- How
- Randomized controlled trial evaluating grade repetition rates, grade completion rates, and total completed years of schooling between voucher lottery winners and losers.
What to do
Incorporate academic grade-progression incentives into educational funding models to reduce grade retention costs and accelerate secondary school completion.
From the source
"In non-vocational schools, the effects on school years finished, grade repetition, and 8th grade completion are statistically significant... lottery winners were 15 percentage points more likely to have attended private school, had completed 0.1 more years of schooling, and were about 10 percentage points more likely to have finished 8th grade, primarily because they were less likely to repeat grades."
Are Educational Vouchers Only Redistributive?