Grading Student Behavior

Numerous countries require teachers to assign comportment grades rating students’ social and work behavior in the classroom. However, the impact of such policies on student outcomes remains unknown. We exploit the staggered introduction of comportment grading across German federal states to estimate its causal effect on students’ school-to-work transitions as well as academic achievement and non-cognitive skills. Analyzing administrative data, household surveys, and nationwide student assessments, we show that comportment grading does not meaningfully affect these outcomes, and reject large effect sizes. Teachers likely offset potential effects by using alternative methods for providing student feedback and managing classroom discipline in place of comportment grading.