Student mobility and school segregation in an (un)controlled choice system: A counterfactual approach

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between school choice, student mobility and school segregation in Barcelona. The case of Barcelona is particularly interesting because the school admissions policy combines a particular design of catchment area with a significant level of choice options. We work on students and school register datasets for the school year 2016-2017 to observe the association between the socioeconomic characteristics of the students and their residential and educational geographical distribution. The article tests whether recent reforms that have undermined the role of residential proximity in admissions policy have impacted on the school segregation of three groups of socially disadvantaged students (foreign students, students entitled to Free School Meals (FSM) and students who are Recipients of Social Allowances (RSA)). We explore different patterns of mobility between socially disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students and the impact of opting out from neighbourhood schools on school segregation. By using a counterfactual approach that compares real enrolment with simulated school enrolment in proximity schools, we provide evidence of a significant reduction of school segregation for all socially disadvantaged students, showing the negative effects of the current high number of school choice options. In addition, our analysis shows that school choice boosts remarkably the inequality between public and private subsidised schools. The final section of the article reflects on the implications of our findings for potential reforms in the current definition of catchment areas and the overall school choice policy in Barcelona.

Opting out of neighbourhood schools: The role of local education markets in student mobility

“…where schools are open (Bonal et al, 2020). Second, schools with low demand and poor academic performance rarely disappear from the market (Burgess et al, 2011).…”

“…Although Barcelona adopts a controlled system in an attempt to equalise school choice options, educational opportunities and travel-to-school patterns are far from being equally distributed among social groups. These mobility patterns generate higher levels of school segregation than would result from choosing neighbourhood schools or schools within the catchment area (Bonal et al, 2020). Exerting school choice increases education inequalities and at the same time generates conditions for its reproduction.…”

“…First, the regulation of educational markets is insufficient to guarantee a balanced territorial and social distribution of educational provision. They may refer to systems of authorisation of providers or accountability mechanisms, but have limited capacity to determine where schools are open (Bonal et al, 2020). Second, schools with low demand and poor academic performance rarely disappear from the market (Burgess et al, 2011).…”

School segregation of migrants and their descendants in a dual school system: The case of Barcelona

“…This process is favoured in the context of the dual educational system with public and private schools. On the one hand, both systems are unequally distributed throughout the territory (Bonal & Zancajo, 2020; Bonal et al, 2020) and, notably, with a smaller presence of private schools in vulnerable areas, as happens in Barcelona (Domingo & Bayona, 2021). On the other hand, it encourages segregation because of the possibility of choosing among schools and the higher economic costs associated with private schools, even though they might be partially state‐funded.…”

“…School segregation is receiving increasing attention in Catalonia (Alegre, Benito, & González, 2008; Benito & Gonzàlez, 2007; Bonal, 2012; Bonal et al, 2019; Carrasco et al, 2007; Ferrer et al, 2011; Sánchez‐Hugalde, 2009; Tarabini et al, 2018), with particular interest from the institutions (Síndic de Greuges, 2016). This school segregation in Catalonia is greater than residential segregation (Alegre, 2017; Bonal et al, 2020), especially in the case of students with Latin American nationalities, where the low levels of segregation from the residential point of view are not the case when it comes to schools (López‐Falcón & Bayona, 2012).…”