The Role of Selective High Schools in Equalizing Educational Outcomes: Heterogeneous Effects by Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status

Lisa Barrow, Marisa de la Torre and Lauren Sartain ()

No WP-2016-17, Working Paper Series from Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Abstract: We investigate whether elite Chicago public high schools can help close the achievement gap between high-achieving students from more and less affluent neighborhoods. Seats are allocated based on prior achievement with 70 percent reserved for high-achieving applicants from four neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) categories. Using regression discontinuity design, we find no effect on test scores or college attendance for students from high- or low-SES neighborhoods and positive effects on student reports of their experiences. For students from low-SES neighborhoods, we estimate significant negative effects on rank in high school, grades and the probability of attending a selective college.

Keywords: Educational equalization; high school; low-income; regression analysis; universities and colleges admission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I22 I24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 60 pages
Date: 2016-11-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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