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Explaining State-Level Student Dropout Rates: The Impact Of Exit Exams And Public School Resources, Martin Battle, James C. Clinger

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

This paper examines one key indicator of school performance, the dropout rate among the public school students at the state level from 1998 to 2002, using a. pooled, cross-sectional time series research design. In this analysis the effects of high stakes testing (i.e., exit exams required for graduation), funding levels, and other school resources are examined. The results ind.irate that exit exams have no statistically significant effects upon dropout rates. Per pupil expenditures do not seem to reduce dropouts and may in fact have a positive effect at the state level. However, the analysis indicates that high pupil to teacher …