School choice, racial segregation, and test‐score gaps: Evidence from North Carolina's charter school program*

Abstract

Using panel data that track individual students from year to year, we examine the effects of charter schools in North Carolina on racial segregation and black-white test score gaps. We find that North Carolina's system of charter schools has increased the racial isolation of both black and white students, and has widened the achievement gap. Moreover, the relatively large negative effects of charter schools on the achievement of black students is driven by students who transfer into charter schools that are more racially isolated than the schools they have left. Our analysis of charter school choices suggests that asymmetric preferences of black and white charter school students (and their families) for schools of different racial compositions help to explain why there are so few racially balanced charter schools.

Parental preferences in the choice for a specialty school

“…However, some authors have found that charter schools increase racial segregation (Bifulco & Ladd, 2007) and the potential to further stratify schools along racial and socioeconomic profiles, allowing a mechanism to escape racial integration (Cobb & Glass, 1999). Sohoni and Saporito (2009) examine levels of racial segregation in private, charter, and magnet schools.…”

Exploring school choice and the consequences for student racial segregation within Pennsylvania’s charter school transfers

“…For example, in several studies, Black students attended charter schools where the percentage of Black students was 15 or more percentage points greater than the TPS they exited Weiher & Tedin, 2002). Additionally, studies of individual charter movers in Arizona (Garcia, 2008), North Carolina (Bifulco & Ladd, 2007), Texas and California (Booker, Zimmer, & Buddin, 2005), and Ohio (Zimmer et al, 2009) support the claim that students-especially Black students-tend to leave more racially diverse TPSs for more segregated charter schools. Some studies also find that White students' transfers to charter schools are also segregative (Zimmer et al, 2009).…”

“…At a time of persisting neighborhood segregation, it is critical to assess how student movement to and from charter schools affects school segregation, as well as whether students and parents make these choices while more integrative options exist. Few studies have been able to ascertain how movements to charter schools affect segregation, but those that have suggest that the moves to charter schools for Black students result in more segregated school contexts; findings for White and Latino students, where studied, are more mixed (Bifulco & Ladd, 2007;Kotok, Frankenberg, Schafft, Fuller, & Mann, 2015;Stein, 2015;Zimmer et al, 2009). …”

“…Charter schools have emerged as the most rapidly increasing form of school choice, spurred in part by governmental policy incentives in recent decades. The effects of charter schools on academic achievement are vigorously debated, though most analyses suggest that many students' scores do not increase after moving to charter schools (e.g., Bettinger, 2005;Bifulco & Ladd, 2007;Chingos & West, 2015;Clark, Gleason, Tuttle, & Silverberg, 2015), that charter schools may have mixed or negative effects on a TPS (Bettinger, 2005;Zimmer et al, 2009), and there may be high student attrition from charters (Miron, Urschel, & Saxton, 2011). Moreover, most researchers agree that there is considerable variety in student outcomes within the charter school sector (Berends, 2015;.…”

Life After Vouchers

“…Keywords: school vouchers, student achievement, program evaluation, attrition Student selection is one of the most controversial aspects of school choice policy. The literature has given prominent attention to the characteristics of students who select into various alternatives to traditional public schools (Betts & Fairlie, 2001;Bifulco & Ladd, 2007;Campbell, West, & Peterson, 2005;Fairlie & Resch, 2002;Figlio, 2008;Figlio, Hart, & Metzger, 2010;Figlio & Stone, 2001;Goldring & Phillips, 2008;Howell, 2004;Lankford & Wyckoff, 2001;Long & Toma, 1988). Accounting for systematic student selection processes is critical for obtaining internally valid estimates of the effect of school choice programs on educational outcomes.…”