Diplomas for learning, not seat time: the impacts of New York Regents examinations

Economic theory predicts that improvements in signaling of achievement gene rated by external exit examination systems will (1) result in students lear ning more and this in turn will (2) enable them to Set better palling jobs. Since New York State had the only statewide curriculum-based external exit exam system in the nation in the early 1990s, hypothesis 1 predicts that N ew York students should out perform socio-economically comparable students from other states. Cross section analysis of mean 8th grade NAEP math score s and SAT-I scores found that New York students were indeed about one grade level equivalent ahead of where one would expect given their socio-economi c background. A similar analysis of dropout rate data found no differences between New York and other stares. Hypothesis 2 was tested in HSB and NLS-8 8 data. Female students who reported that their high school required they p ass a minimum competency exam in order to graduate were paid significantly more after they graduated from high school. Men did not earn more but did g et a higher hourly wage. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved .