School Choice, School Quality, and Postsecondary Attainment
David J. Deming, Justine S. Hastings, Thomas J. Kane, Douglas O. Staiger
American Economic Review · 2014 · Volume 104 · Issue 3
Abstract
We study the impact of a public school choice lottery in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools on college enrollment and degree completion. We find a significant overall increase in college attainment among lottery winners who attend their first choice school. Using rich administrative data on peers, teachers, course offerings and other inputs, we show that the impacts of choice are strongly predicted by gains on several measures of school quality. Gains in attainment are concentrated among girls. Girls respond to attending a better school with higher grades and increases in college-preparatory course-taking, while boys do not.
Keywords
Auctions, State and Local Government: Health, Education, Welfare, Public Pensions, Analysis of Education, Higher Education, Research Institutions, Economics of Gender, Non-labor Discrimination
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