Cramming: The Effects of School Accountability on College-Bound Students / Colleen Donovan, David N. Figlio, Mark Rush.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Donovan, Colleen.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Figlio, David N.

Rush, Mark.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w12628.

NBER working paper series no. w12628

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Cramming

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2006.

Summary:

This paper is the first to explore the effects of school accountability systems on high-achieving students' long-term performance. Using exceptional data from a large highly-selective state university, we relate school accountability pressure in high school to a student's university-level grades and study habits. We exploit a change in the state's accountability system in 1999 that led to some schools becoming newlythreatened by accountability pressure and others becoming newly-unthreatened to identify the effects of accountability pressure. We find that an accountability system based on a low-level test of basic skills apparently led to generally reduced performance by high-achieving students, while an accountability system based on a more challenging criterion-referenced exam apparently led to improved performance in college on mathematics and other technical subjects. Both types of systems are associated with increased "cramming" by students in college. The results indicate that the nature of an accountability system can influence its effectiveness.

Notes:

Print version record

October 2006.