Busing to Opportunity? The Impacts of the Metco Voluntary School Desegregation Program on Urban Students of Color
Quarterly Journal of Economics · 2026 · Elizabeth M. Setren
中文摘要
学校分配政策是扩大进入高绩效学校的机会、促进种族与社会经济融合的关键杠杆。50多年来，大都会教育机会委员会（METCO）用巴士将有色人种学生从马萨诸塞州波士顿送往相对更富裕且以白人为主的郊区。我通过比较收到入学录取的申请者与未收到录取的申请者，估计了就读高绩效郊区学校的影响。两阶段最小二乘法利用了候补名单分配优先级，并控制了来自出生记录和申请数据的丰富特征集。就读郊区学校提高了数学和英语考试成绩，减少了辍学，并提高了按时高中毕业率。四年制大学志向、入学和毕业率随之增加，成年后的收入也上升。父母未上过大学的学生和男生的效应最大。证据指向若干机制，包括进入增值更高的学校、接触成绩更好的同伴，以及进入大学升学规范更强的学校。参与者更可能被分轨进入表现较低的班级，这意味着若能接触更高级的课程，效应可能更大。学区增值估计表明，学生的教育轨迹至少会发生与在郊区学区成长相当的变化。
Abstract
Abstract School assignment policies are a key lever for expanding access to high-performing schools and promoting racial and socioeconomic integration. For over 50 years, the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) has bussed students of color from Boston, Massachusetts, to relatively wealthier and predominantly white suburbs. I estimate the effects of attending a high-performing suburban school by comparing applicants who receive enrollment offers with applicants who do not. A two-stage least squares approach exploits waitlist assignment priorities and controls for a rich set of characteristics from birth records and application data. Attending a suburban school boosts math and English test scores, reduces dropout, and increases on-time high school graduation. Four-year college aspirations, enrollment, and graduation increase along with earnings in adulthood. Students whose parents did not attend college and boys experience the largest effects. The evidence points to several mechanisms, including access to higher value-added schools, higher-achieving peers, and schools with stronger college-going norms. Participants are more likely to be tracked into lower-performing classes, implying that effects could be larger with access to more advanced coursework. District value-added estimates suggest that students’ educational trajectories shift at least as much as they would from growing up in the suburban districts.