Abstract
We study the causal effect of state-mandated (central) exit examinations (CEEs) on student performance in Germany and find a small positive effect. We also investigate what actually drives this effect. We find that the teachers’ main reaction to CEEs is to increase the amount of homework and to check and discuss homework more often. Students report increased learning pressure, which has sizeable negative effects on student attitudes toward learning. Students who take central exit exams in mathematics like mathematics less, think it is less easy, and are more likely to find it boring.
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Notes
A fourth type of track, the comprehensive school, does not appear in our figures. This type offers all lower secondary level leaving certificates, as well as providing upper secondary education. It only plays a minor role in most federal states with less than 10% of all students in grade 8 attending a comprehensive school.
As mentioned in Section 1, CEEs have now been introduced in Saarland (2001), Hamburg (2005), Brandenburg (2005), Hesse (2006), Lower Saxony (2006), Berlin (2007), North Rhine-Westphalia (2007), Bremen (2007), and Schleswig-Holstein (2008).
As has been pointed out by one referee, Saxony would make good comparison state to corroborate our results if students in Saxony (passing central exams in mathematics and science) are compared to those with CEEs only in mathematics. The main problem with this strategy is that the number of independent observations (classes, not students) in Saxony is very low (12). However, there is evidence that, in Saxony, biology homework is taken more seriously relative to mathematics homework than in other CEE states, which supports our hypothesis.
In Bavaria, between 25% (intermediate track) and 40% (basic track) of the students take the CEEs in science.
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We are grateful to Helen Ladd and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments.
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Jürges, H., Schneider, K. Central exit examinations increase performance... but take the fun out of mathematics. J Popul Econ 23, 497–517 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-008-0234-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-008-0234-3