Information, School Choice, and Academic Achievement: Evidence from Two Experiments / Justine S. Hastings, Jeffrey M. Weinstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hastings, Justine S.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Weinstein, Jeffrey M.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w13623.

NBER working paper series no. w13623

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Information, School Choice, and Academic Achievement

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2007.

Summary:

We analyze two experiments that provided direct information on school test scores to lower-income families in a public school choice plan. We find that receiving information significantly increases the fraction of parents choosing higher-performing schools. Parents with high-scoring alternatives nearby were more likely to choose non-guaranteed schools with higher test scores. Using random variation from each experiment, we find evidence that attending a higher-scoring school increases student test scores. The results imply that school choice will most effectively increase academic achievement for disadvantaged students when parents have easy access to test score information and have good options to choose from.

Notes:

Print version record

November 2007.