ERIC Number: ED672013
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Feb
Pages: 70
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Public School Choice, Outside Options, and Public School Enrollment. EdWorkingPaper No. 22-540
Susha Roy
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
In this paper, I study the effect of winning the public school choice lottery on public school enrollment. In particular, I look at how different outside options affect how sensitive students are to receiving their first choice in the public school lottery, focusing on three measures of outside options: "ability to afford" private schools, "geographic convenience" of private schools, and "zoned-school quality." Using rich administrative data from applications submitted through a centralized enrollment system in Tulsa Public Schools (TPS), I find that overall, students who do not get assigned to their top choice school in a public school choice program are 15 percentage points more likely to leave the public school system entirely than those who do get an offer at their top choice. This effect is driven by higher-income students: these students, who are more likely to be able to afford private schools, are 33 percentage points more likely to leave the public school system if they do not get an offer at the public school they rank first than those who do get a spot. Geographic convenience of private schools and zoned-school quality do not differentially affect students' enrollment decisions once they receive a school assignment. These effects are important to understand as districts undergo efforts to increase participation in school choice programs, while seeking to maintain district enrollment. They also provide useful insights about how attrition may affect estimates of the impact of choice schools on student outcomes.
Descriptors: Public Schools, School Choice, Enrollment Trends, Private Schools, Costs, Educational Finance, School Location, Educational Quality, Zoning, Family Income, Decision Making, Elementary Secondary Education, School Effectiveness, Neighborhood Schools, School Districts, Reputation, Institutional Characteristics, Kindergarten, Magnet Schools
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Identifiers - Location: Oklahoma (Tulsa)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A