/SES gradient can be explained by differential performance at second level which also explains the gap between the sexes. Students … from white collar backgrounds do significantly better in their final second level exams than the children of blue …

to low socioeconomic status (SES) students using a natural experiment which exploits the time variation in the expansion … treatment is based on SES rather than ethnicity. Evaluating the effectiveness of programs targeting disadvantaged students in … and final year graduation rates, with the impact often stronger for higher ability students. We find similar patterns of …

We study the treatment effect of grade retention, using a panel of French junior high school students, taking … weakest students. We also show that class size is endogenous and tends to increase with unobserved student ability. The … Average Treatment Effect (ATE) of grade retention is negative, again with the exception of the weakest group of students …

substantial and heterogeneous employment responses that increased average income despite reduced transfers. We find zero effects …