Exam Systems

Many analyses of international tests have repeated shown that student achievement is substantially higher in school systems with external exit exams. This is also confirmed in a comparison of German states, roughly half of which had central exit exams until the mid-2000s whereas the other half did not. Central exams make students and schools accountable for their effort by revealing the overall outcome of the learning process. They increase external rewards for learning, enhance monitoring of teachers and schools, and decrease peer pressure against learning. In the international comparisons, the association between external exams and student achievement is particularly strong where schools have autonomy in different decision-making areas. 

Central exit exams do not only affect the learning outcomes of students, but also their labor-market outcomes in the longer run. In a comparison across German states, central exams are associated with higher earnings for students from the school type directly bound for the labor market, as well as with lower unemployment.

In a further research project, we show that central exit exams raise the understanding of grades - their information value - in the labor market by improving the signaling of later productivity. In an analysis across German states, the earnings premium for a one standard-deviation increase in high-school grades is 6 percent when obtained on central exams but less than 2 percent when obtained on local exams. 

Another study investigates reforms in exam systems in 59 countries between 2000 and 2015 using PISA micro data on over two million students. We find that in low- and medium-performing countries, the introduction of standardized testing improves student achievement, whereas internal testing and teacher inspectorates without external comparisons do not. In high-performing countries, expansion of standardized internal testing and teacher monitoring appears harmful.

Here you can find a short non-technical overview on this topic. 

Research papers: 

Testing (with A.B. Bergbauer and E.A. Hanushek). Journal of Human Resources 59 (2): 349-388, 2024 [tweet1] [tweet2] [video]

The Information Value of Central School Exams (with G. Schwerdt). Economics of Education Review 56: 65-79, 2017

Central School Exit Exams and Labor-Market Outcomes (with M. Piopiunik and G. Schwerdt). European Journal of Political Economy 31: 93-108, 2013 

The Effect Heterogeneity of Central Exams: Evidence from TIMSS, TIMSS-Repeat and PISA. Education Economics 13 (2): 143-169, 2005 

Central Exit Exams and Student Achievement: International Evidence. In: P.E. Peterson, M.R. West (eds.), No Child Left Behind? The Politics and Practice of School Accountability, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 292-323, 2003

The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement. Journal of Economic Perspectives 30 (3): 3-31, 2016 

Institutional Determinants of School Efficiency and Equity: German States as a Microcosm for OECD Countries. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik / Journal of Economics and Statistics 230 (2): 234-270, 2010 

What Accounts for International Differences in Student Performance? A Re-examination using PISA Data (with T. Fuchs). Empirical Economics 32 (2-3): 433-464, 2007 

Schooling Resources, Educational Institutions, and Student Performance: The International Evidence. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 65 (2): 117-170, 2003

Non-technical contributions: 

Central Exit Exams Improve Student Outcomes. IZA World of Labor: 419, 2018 

Testing with Accountability Improves Student Achievement (with A.B. Bergbauer and E.A. Hanushek). VOX, 19.9.2018 

Central Exams as the “Currency” of School Systems: International Evidence on the Complementarity of School Autonomy and Central Exams. DICE Report - Journal for Institutional Comparisons 1 (4): 46-56, 2003 

Early report on the results on central exams: 

Central Exams Improve Educational Performance: International Evidence. Kiel Discussion Papers 397, Kiel: Institute for World Economics, 2002

Material available only in German

German articles:

Zentrale Abschlussprüfungen, Signalwirkung von Abiturnoten und Arbeitsmarkterfolg in Deutschland (with M. Piopiunik and G. Schwerdt). Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft 17 (1): 35-60, 2014 

Zentrale Abschlussprüfungen und Schülerleistungen: Individualanalysen anhand von vier internationalen Tests. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 54 (6): 810-826, 2008 

Zentrale Prüfungen als „Währung“ des Bildungssystems: Zur Komplementarität von Schulautonomie und Zentralprüfungen. Vierteljahreshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung 72 (2): 220-237, 2003  

As political consequence of the results, the Aktionsrat Bildung has proposed a Common Core Exit Exam for Germany:  

Das Abitur soll vergleichbar sein. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19.8.2019, p. 16

Deutschland braucht ein gemeinsames Kernabitur. Forschung & Lehre 25 (12): 1029, 2018

Ein Gemeinsames Kernabitur für Deutschland: Der Vorschlag des Aktionsrats Bildung. ifo Schnelldienst 65 (2): 12-21, 2012 

Gemeinsames Kernabitur: Zur Sicherung von nationalen Bildungsstandards und fairem Hochschulzugang. Gutachten des Aktionsrats Bildung. Münster: Waxmann, 2011  

Video on "How is Student Learning Affected by Different Types of Testing?"

A 12-minute take on our "Testing" paper on the "Latest Thinking" portal: