1. The Effects of Public School Choice on the Academic Achievement of Minority Students.
- Author
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Lee, Daniel, Maddaus, John, Coladarci, Theodore, and Donaldson, Gordon A.
- Abstract
Black and Hispanic students are more likely to exercise public school choice. Previous large-scale quantitative studies have ignored ethnic distinctions as well as choice's multidimensional nature. As a result, the effects of public sector choice policy on the academic achievement of minority students are unknown. This study uses data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 in a structural equation model to test and compare the effects of school choice on the academic achievement of 853 Black and Hispanic high school students. It is concluded that school choice has no indirect effect on academic achievement. Other findings include: (1) a student's socioeconomic status predicts choice; (2) school choice positively influences a sense of belonging and support; (3) school choice's influence on student effort is indirectly transmitted via an enhanced sense of belonging and support; and (4) choosing does not increase the likelihood that students will enroll in an academically rigorous program. (Contains 5 tables, 6 figures, and 109 references.) (Author/SLD)
- Published
- 1999