ERIC Number: ED594204
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Apr
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
New York City's Small Schools of Choice: A First Look at Effects on Postsecondary Persistence and Labor Market Outcomes. Policy Brief
Unterman, Rebecca; Haider, Zeest
MDRC
In 2002, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) launched a bold set of education reforms designed to transform the educational experiences of all high school students: They instituted a district-wide high school choice process that assigned all rising ninth-graders to specific high schools; they closed large, low-performing high schools; and they created over 100 new small schools to serve students in the lowest-income areas of the city. Because these small schools are located in the communities they intended to serve, do not screen students based on their prior academic achievement, and thus represent a realistic small school option for many students who previously did not have one, MDRC researchers call these new schools Small Schools of Choice (SSCs). This brief examines whether the positive effects of SSCs translate into impacts on students' postsecondary degree attainment and performance in the labor market. While nonexperimental research suggests that high school graduates are employed at higher rates and earn more than those who do not graduate, few experimental studies have followed students from high school into postsecondary education and the labor market, and it is unclear how far an effective four-year high school intervention can reach. Findings from the few studies that have been conducted are mixed. Some show that, after students leave high school, any effects on postsecondary education quickly begin to fade; others show that after a reasonable length of time -- eight years or more -- high school interventions can improve students' future labor market performance.
Descriptors: School Choice, Academic Persistence, Small Schools, Labor Market, Postsecondary Education, Outcomes of Education, High School Students, At Risk Students, Low Income Students, Equal Education, Program Effectiveness, High School Graduates, Educational Quality, Intervention, Employment Level, Wages, Productivity
MDRC. 16 East 34th Street 19th Floor, New York, NY 10016-4326. Tel: 212-532-3200; Fax: 212-684-0832; e-mail: publications@mdrc.org; Web site: http://www.mdrc.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Postsecondary Education; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Walton Family Foundation
Authoring Institution: MDRC
Identifiers - Location: New York (New York)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A