Assessing the ability of schools to help their students to progress is a complex exercise, as it is difficult to distinguish between the effects brought about by the school itself and those resulting from the characteristics of the students they enrol. This article starts by describing the two main statistical models currently in use (Value-Added models and Student Growth Percentile models) and discusses their advantages and limitations in the light of recent literature. It then proposes indicators to complement the traditional measures of the value-added of schools, in particular by assessing whether the results achieved by the students of a high school are more or less dispersed than would be expected given the characteristics of its students. These indicators are useful for assessing the relevance of the information provided by the indicators on average effect of the schools. This method is applied using exhaustive data on baccalaureate grades from 2015.

Citation: Givord, P. & Suarez Castillo, M. (2021). What Makes a Good High School? Measuring School Effects beyond the Average. Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, 528‑529, 29–45. doi: 10.24187/ecostat.2021.528d.2057