ERIC Number: ED664664
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Jul
Pages: 71
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Still Worth the Trip? School Busing Effects in Boston and New York. Discussion Paper #2022.12
Joshua Angrist; Guthrie Gray-Lobe; Clémence Idoux; Parag A. Pathak
Blueprint Labs
School assignment in Boston and New York City came to national attention in the 1970s as courts across the country tried to integrate schools. Today, district-wide choice allows Boston and New York students to enroll far from home. Although 1970s desegregation efforts likely benefited minority students, urban school transportation is increasingly costly and may not generate the gains in learning and educational attainment seen decades ago. We estimate contemporary causal effects of non-neighborhood school attendance and school travel on racial integration, achievement, and college enrollment using an identification strategy that exploits partly-random assignment generated by the Boston and New York school matching algorithms. Instrumental variables estimates suggest distance and travel boost integration for those who choose to travel but have little or no effect on test scores. Travel reduces post-secondary attainment and on-time high school graduation in New York. IV estimates show no human capital gains from travel even for students who indicate a strong preference for non-neighborhood schools. These findings are explained in part by the fact that the schools travelers travel to differ little in value-added terms from schools nearby. Negative effects on college enrollment in New York appear to arise from travel itself rather than diminished college value-added. [Additional funding from the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative.]
Descriptors: Busing, School Desegregation, Racial Factors, White Students, African American Students, Asian American Students, Hispanic American Students, School Choice, Student Transportation, Urban Schools, Travel, Academic Achievement, College Attendance, Proximity, Racial Integration, Program Effectiveness, Grade 6, Grade 9
Blueprint Labs. 30 Wadsworth Street. Cambridge, MA 02142. e-mail: contact@mitblueprintlabs.org; Web site: https://blueprintlabs.mit.edu/
Related Records: ED664665
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Elementary Education; Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Grade 9; High Schools; Junior High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Spencer Foundation; William T. Grant Foundation
Authoring Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Blueprint Labs
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts (Boston); New York (New York)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A