A lack of longitudinal data prevents many countries from estimating dynamic models and, thus, from obtaining valuable evidence for policy making in the field of education. This is the case of Spain, where recent education reforms have targeted secondary schools, but their design has been based...

Most recent available evidence points to the scarce efficacy of grade retention for levelling the performance of students. Yet, the fact that many countries persist in applying this measure reflects longstanding traditions, cultural factors and social beliefs as well, it would seem, the lack of...