The long-run effects of reducing early school tracking

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of a French detracking reform on individuals' long-run education and labor market outcomes. The reform delayed the age at which students were separated into vocational and general education by two years, from age 11 to 13. The assignment of students to different types of education at age 11 was instead replaced by ability grouping, whereby students followed a common general education curriculum but were divided into different classrooms based on their academic achievement. Using a regression discontinuity design, I find that the reform raised individuals' level of education and increased their wages by 6% at ages 40 to 45. These effects are concentrated among men and individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds. However, the reform solely benefited individuals whose parents were born in France, as it did not significantly affect children of immigrants' educational and labor market outcomes. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.