Might progress assessments hinder equitable progress? Evidence from England

Benjamin Alcott

doi:10.1007/s11092-017-9264-2

Abstract

Prior research has highlighted the importance of educational achievement throughout school in predicting subsequent progression to higher education in England. However, progress assessments may not only demonstrate students’ prior academic achievement but also influence their future achievement. I compare students who have received different grades on one such assessment, despite performing almost identically, to see whether grade labels influence their progress to post-compulsory education. Further, I investigate whether any impact differs according to socio-economic status. Results indicate that grade labels received in eighth grade influence students’ performance in school-leaving exams and enrollment in post-compulsory schooling. For lower socio-economic students, this impact is higher than for other students and extends to university enrollment.

Highlights

Introduction and conceptual frameworkLike many countries, England’s recent governments have promoted higher education as a means to national economic growth
Bandwidth size varies across models; information about the bandwidth and sample size used for each model is presented in Appendix 2.B. These findings provide moderate evidence of a labeling effect from the English examination, but essentially no evidence of the mathematics label having an impact
This finding supports the hypothesis that feedback from summative testing, even when ostensibly low-stakes, has an important impact on behavior. It corroborates analyses conducted in non-English contexts on the impact of exam results more broadly (e.g., Papay et al 2010) or on non-academic outcomes (e.g., Sartarelli 2011), and substantiates the claims made by a body of literature (e.g., Black and Wiliam 1998, 2006; Harlen and Deakin Crick 2003; Reay and William 1999) on the English context that has provided compelling phenomenological evidence but lacks the inferential studies necessary to establish a plausible counterfactual

Summary

Introduction

Introduction and conceptual frameworkLike many countries, England’s recent governments have promoted higher education as a means to national economic growth. Enrollment rates have increased : the proportion of citizens aged 18–22 years enrolled in a degree course has risen from 5% in 1960 to 40% in 2013 (Callender 2006; Vignoles 2013). This expansion has disproportionately served students from the higher socio-economic classes (Anders 2012a; Archer et al 2003; Chowdry et al 2013). The mechanisms by which earlier achievement drives future enrollment behavior have not been fully clarified

Methods

Results

Conclusion