Globally, statistical analyses have found a range of variables that predict the odds of first-year students failing to progress at their Higher Education Institution (HEI). Some of these studies have included students from a range of disciplines. Yet despite the rise in the number of criminology students in HEIs in the UK, little statistical…

Many American states require that students lacking basic reading proficiency after third grade be retained and remediated. We exploit a discontinuity in retention probabilities under Florida's test-based promotion policy to study its effects on student outcomes through high school. We find large positive effects on achievement that fade out…

The present study investigates school context effects on psychosocial characteristics (academic self-concept, peer relations, school satisfaction, and school anxiety) of high-achieving and gifted students. Students who did or did not make an early transition from elementary to secondary schools for high-achieving and gifted students in 5th grade…

A growing number of American states and school districts require students to meet basic performance standards in core academic subjects at key transition points in order to be promoted to the next grade. We exploit a discontinuity in the probability of third grade retention under a Florida test-based promotion policy to study the causal effect of…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students retained in first grade, relative to similarly low-achieving students who were promoted, differed in the number of remedial educational services received by students in the pre-retention year and in the repeat year. Study participants were 769 relatively low-achieving first-grade…

The paper examines the determinants of scientific productivity (number of articles and journals' impact factor) for a panel of about 3600 French and Italian academic physicists active in 2004-05. Endogeneity problems concerning promotion and productivity are addressed by specifying a generalized Tobit model, in which a selection probit equation…