%0 Journal Article %A John P. Papay %A Richard J. Murnane %A John B. Willett %T The Impact of Test Score Labels on Human-Capital Investment Decisions %D 2016 %R 10.3368/jhr.51.2.0713-5837R %J Journal of Human Resources %P 357-388 %V 51 %N 2 %X Students receive abundant information about their educational performance, but how this information affects future educational-investment decisions is not well understood. Increasingly, results from state-mandated standardized tests are an important source of information. Students receive a score and a label that summarizes their performance on these tests. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we find persistent effects of earning a more positive label on the college-going decisions of urban, low-income students. These findings are important not only for understanding students’ educational-investment decisions and the consequences of state testing practices but also for researchers using the regression-discontinuity design. %U https://jhr.uwpress.org/content/wpjhr/51/2/357.full.pdf