Still Worth the Trip? School Busing Effects in Boston and New York. Policy Brief
Saved in:
| Title: | Still Worth the Trip? School Busing Effects in Boston and New York. Policy Brief |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Joshua Angrist, Guthrie Gray-Lobe, Clemence Idoux, Parag Pathak, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Blueprint Labs |
| Source: | Blueprint Labs. 2022. |
| Availability: | Blueprint Labs. 30 Wadsworth Street. Cambridge, MA 02142. e-mail: contact@mitblueprintlabs.org; Web site: https://blueprintlabs.mit.edu/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 3 |
| Publication Date: | 2022 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Descriptive |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education Elementary Education Grade 6 Intermediate Grades Middle Schools Grade 9 High Schools Junior High Schools Secondary Education |
| 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 |
| Geographic Terms: | Massachusetts (Boston), New York (New York) |
| Abstract: | This is the policy brief for the discussion paper, "Still Worth the Trip? School Busing Effects in Boston and New York." While choice systems offer students in segregated neighborhoods access to schools that may be more integrated and of higher quality, does busing lead to improved academic performance as measured by higher test scores and college enrollment? This study examines causal effects of school travel on integration and academic achievement in Boston and New York City. The study finds that students who attend schools outside their neighborhoods do indeed enjoy greater academic success, but the impact of school travel disappears after accounting for individual academic motivation and family resources. Since such students are likely to perform better regardless of which schools they attend, their inclusion in the study results in selection bias. The Blueprint study eliminates selection bias by exploiting the random assignment integral to the Boston and New York public school choice processes. The Blueprint study finds that school travel does increase racial integration. Black and Hispanic students who travel attend schools with a higher share of white and Asian students. As a result, they are less likely to attend a racially isolated school, that is, one where Black and Hispanic students exceed 90 percent of enrollment. However, travel generates little change in test scores or college attendance. Why? The study finds that the distant schools are only slightly better, on average, than those in their neighborhood. New York spends more than $1 billion a year on school transportation. The Blueprint study suggests a cost-saving shift toward neighborhood schools has trade-offs: it would likely have no significant impact on educational outcomes for Black and Hispanic students but would boost integration. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Access URL: | https://blueprintcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Blueprint-Labs-Policy-Brief_Busing.pdf |
| Accession Number: | ED664665 |
| Database: | ERIC |
Be the first to leave a comment!
