Reback, Randall
Researchers: Randall Reback
University Affiliation: Columbia University
Email: rr2165@columbia.edu
Research Question:
This study examines parents' demand for sending their children to a public school located outside their residential school district.
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Economics of Education Review
Journal Entry: Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 402-416
Year: 2008
Findings:
- Students from low-income families and students receiving special education services are slightly more likely than other students to participate in open enrollment.
- Transfer demand is greater when a district has fewer high school dropouts or when a district’s least educated neighbor has fewer residents with college degrees. These findings are consistent with the idea that parents want to transfer their children into districts with better-educated parents.
- Total spending per pupil variables, which adjust for transferring patterns, do not have statistically significant effects on transfer demand.
- Demand to transfer is greater for districts where the average local expenditures of neighboring districts is relatively large and for districts where the minimum local expenditure level among the neighboring districts is relatively low.
- There is slightly greater transfer demand when districts spend a greater proportion of their budgets on vocational programs than neighboring districts. This is probably due to a few students who prefer a school district offering these specialized services.
- While districts are claiming to make rejections based on capacity, it appears that test score gaps and socio-economic differences are also correlated with these decisions. A one standard deviation increase in this test score difference variable equals 1.23 points, which implies a 2.3 percentage point increase in the probability that the district rejected any applicants.