School choice advocates argue that the introduction of vouchers can make improved educationalopportunity available to the most disadvantaged children. Critics contend that vouchers increase the risk of exacerbating inequities based on race and socioeconomic status. They are worried about whether disadvantaged parents have enough information to make good choices and whether parental preferences will lead families to select schools based on the race or class composition of their student bodies and not on their academic quality. Critics also fear that in order to remain competitive and save costs, private schools will have incentives to skim off the highest performing students who are usually least demanding in terms of resources. Most evidence in Chile confirms skeptics’ concerns. Researchers have found that Chile’s unrestricted flat per-pupil voucher program has lead to increased stratification across public and private schools. What has been overlooked, however, is segregation between schools within a sector and variation within private voucher forprofit and non-profit (religious and secular) school sectors. Using a highly detailed dataset, I examine public and private school segregation. I find that public schools are more likely to serve disadvantaged – low-income and indigenous – students than private voucher schools. I also find that the typical public school is more internally diverse with regard to ethnicity and socioeconomic status than the typical private voucher school. While differential behavior is also found across private school ownership types, the differences do not always comport with theory. The data suggest that school tuition is much more important than other factors in explaining segregation patterns between and within school sectors. I also find that policies that provide incentives for schools to enroll disadvantaged students can help to mitigate the stratifying effects of educational vouchers.Texto Integral
-
João Marques passando os olhos por... terrear.blogspot.com
The impact of school choice and public policy on segregation: Evidence from Chile
http://terrear.blogspot.com/2010/11/impact-of-school-choice-and-public.html
November 20 2010, 11:10am | Comments »
-
João Marques passando os olhos por... terrear.blogspot.com
Escolha da Escola e Segregação
http://terrear.blogspot.com/2010/11/escolha-da-escola-e-segregacao.html
The economic debate around school choice is centered on two key questions. The proponents of school choice argue that the competitive forces released by school choice increase efficiency and make the schools more responsive to parents’ preferences. The resulting quality improvement benefits all students, including those not exercising choice themselves (e.g., Hoxby, 2003). The opponents argue that choice merely increases segregation. According to a typical argument, the students will be increasingly sorted according to family background or ability. This may hurt the most disadvantaged students who may become isolated in the worst schools (e.g., Fiske and Ladd, 2000.(...)The change in the admission system is only one of the important changes that affect segregation of students across schools. Segregation across residential areas has also increased. The increase in the private school sector also increases choice options and might lead to an increase in segregation across schools. However, the quantitative importance of these two changes appears to be small compared to the effects of the admission reform. This should not be very surprising. Changes in residential segregation are slow compared to sudden changes caused by the change in the admission system.Further, even though the private school sector has grown rapidly, it still represents a rather small fraction of students. For most students, the choice between different public schools is far more important than the choice between public and private schools.Texto IntegralEstudar para debater e escolher.
November 20 2010, 11:00am | Comments »
1