This exchange represents a follow-up to an article on the effects of state high school exit examinations that previously appeared in this journal (Warren, Grodsky, & Kalogrides 2009). That 2009 article was featured prominently in a report by the National Research Council (NRC) that evaluated the efficacy of test-based accountability systems.…

Does increasing the minimum wage reduce the high school completion rate? Previous research has suffered from (1. narrow time horizons, (2. potentially inadequate measures of states' high school completion rates, and (3. potentially inadequate measures of minimum wage rates. Overcoming each of these limitations, we analyze the impact of changes in…

In 23 states, members of the high school class of 2008 were required to pass a state high school exit examination (HSEE) to earn regular high school diplomas. Proponents of these policies claim that they improve student academic achievement, although critics argue that they reduce the quality of instruction without raising academic achievement.…

This article investigates the extent to which state-mandated high school exit examinations are associated with state-level public high school completion rates in the United States. The authors estimate a series of state and year fixed effects models using a new measure of state-level public high school completion rates and archival information…

We present five frameworks for explaining which U.S. states adopted high school exit examination policies at particular points in time. The frameworks correspond to issues of academic achievement, education spending, economic conditions, racial/ethnic heterogeneity and policy diffusion. Using event history techniques we find that states with…

Since the late 1970s, an increasing number of states have required students to pass statewide high school exit examinations (HSEEs) in order to graduate. States have usually adopted HSEEs in response to the perception that a substantial number of graduates lack skills that are required for success in the modern economy. What do these educational…

In this article, the authors ask whether state high school exit examinations are associated with high school dropout rates and racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in high school dropout rates in Florida and Texas. Using data from the 1968-2000 October Current Population Surveys, they first consider the 1971-2000 graduating classes and use…

For more than two decades, many states have required students to pass exit examinations to obtain high school diplomas. Despite these sweeping policy initiatives, we know relatively little about whether such policies are related to the chances that high school students will obtain diplomas. The authors estimate the association between high school…