- Barriers to Access: High School Choice Processes and Outcomes in Chicago
Authors: W. David Stevens, Marisa de la Torre, David Johnson, Alissa Bolz
Year: 2011 - Source: School Choice & School Improvement: What have we learned?
Abstract:
Research suggests that access to quality schools under choice initiatives may be compromised in several ways. Given the lack of quality information about school options and parents’ tendency to consider non-academic factors when making decisions, studies highlight that families may select schools that actually limit their children’s educational opportunities. In addition, institutional constraints, such as a low number of open slots in highly desired schools, may prevent some students from leaving neighborhood schools. Drawing on a mixed-methods study of the choice system in Chicago, the researchers examine how these factors shape students’ access to high schools. Contrary to expectations, the analysis shows that students tend to go to schools with higher graduation rates and test scores when they leave neighborhood schools. Yet many students do not leave assigned high schools because of concerns about managing the logistics of traveling outside their neighborhood. In addition, students’ poor application strategies severely limit their chances of being accepted at other institutions. When students receive support from adults and schools however, their application behaviors improve.This paper is published in a book from the Harvard Education Press.
Download the chapter’s appendix above.
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NCSC Project: School Choice and School Improvement - Type of School Choice: Intra-district and Inter-district Choice
- Keywords:
parent choice