中文摘要
扩大学校选择的学区，能否比基于居住社区的分配制度为学生带来更好的结果？本文研究洛杉矶联合学区（LAUSD）的“选择区”（ZOC）项目，这是一项学校选择举措，在部分社区建立了小型高中教育市场，但在学区其余地区保留了原有的入学片区边界。我们采用双重差分设计，研究学校选择对学生学业成绩和大学入学的市场层面效应。ZOC市场中的学生结果显著改善，缩小了ZOC社区与学区其他地区之间在学业成绩和大学入学方面的差距。对于面临更激烈竞争的学校，ZOC的效应更大，这支持了竞争是关键作用渠道的观点。需求估计表明，家庭相当重视学校的学术质量，这为学校提供了由竞争引致的激励，促使其提高办学效能。证据表明，公立学校选择项目具有提高学校质量、减少基于居住社区的教育机会差距的潜力。
Abstract
Abstract Does a school district that expands school choice provide better outcomes for students than a neighborhood-based assignment system? This article studies the Zones of Choice (ZOC) program, a school choice initiative of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) that created small high school markets in some neighborhoods but left attendance zone boundaries in place throughout the rest of the district. We study market-level effects of choice on student achievement and college enrollment using a difference-in-differences design. Student outcomes in ZOC markets increased markedly, narrowing achievement and college enrollment gaps between ZOC neighborhoods and the rest of the district. The effects of ZOC are larger for schools exposed to more competition, supporting the notion that competition is a key channel. Demand estimates suggest families place substantial weight on schools’ academic quality, providing schools with competition-induced incentives to improve their effectiveness. The evidence demonstrates that public school choice programs have the potential to improve school quality and reduce neighborhood-based disparities in educational opportunity.