School choice

New schools and new classmates: The disruption and peer group effects of school reassignment

Policy makers periodically consider using student assignment policies to improve educational outcomes by altering the socio-economic and academic skill composition of schools. We exploit the quasi-random reassignment of students across schools in the …

The attraction of magnet schools: Evidence from embedded lotteries in school assignment

Magnet schools provide innovative curricula designed to attract students from other schools within a school district, typically with the joint goals of diversifying enrollment and boosting achievement. Measuring the impact of attending a magnet …

The kids on the bus: The academic consequences of diversity-driven school reassignments

Many public school diversity efforts rely on reassigning students from one school to another. While opponents of such efforts articulate concerns about the consequences of reassignments for students’ educational experiences, little evidence exists …

Socioeconomic-based school assignment policy and racial segregation levels: Evidence from the Wake County Public School System

In the wake of political and legal challenges facing race-based integration, districts have turned to socioeconomic integration initiatives in an attempt to achieve greater racial balance across schools. Empirically, the extent to which these …