ERIC Number: ED676251
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0047-2727
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 2025-07-23
The Impact of Increased Exposure of Diversity on Suburban Students' Outcomes: An Analysis of the METCO Voluntary Desegregation Program
Elizabeth Setren1
Grantee Submission, Journal of Public Economics v248 Article 105377 2025
Over sixty years following Brown vs. Board of Education, racial and socioeconomic segregation and lack of equal access to educational opportunities persist. Across the country, voluntary desegregation busing programs aim to ameliorate these imbalances and disparities. A longstanding Massachusetts program, METCO, buses K-12 students of color from Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts to 37 suburban districts that voluntarily enroll urban students. Supporters of the program argue that it prepares students to be active citizens in our multicultural society. Opponents question the value of the program and worry it may have a negative impact on suburban student outcomes. I estimate the causal effect of exposure to diversity through the METCO program by using two types of variation: difference-in-difference analysis of schools stopping and starting their METCO enrollment and two-stage least squares analysis of space availability for METCO students. Both methods rule out substantial test score, attendance, or suspension effects of having METCO peers. Classroom ability distribution and classroom suspension rates remain similar when METCO programs start and stop. There is no negative impact on college preparation, competitiveness, persistence, or graduation.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Boston Foundation; Institute of Education Sciences (ED); Spencer Foundation; Russell Sage Foundation
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts; Massachusetts (Boston)
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A200060
Department of Education Funded: Yes
Author Affiliations: 1Tufts University, Department of Economics, Medford, MA, USA

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