Rezoning Educational Opportunities: The Relationship between School Attendance Zone Boundary Changes and Access to Schools of Varying Quality

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Rezoning Educational Opportunities: The Relationship between School Attendance Zone Boundary Changes and Access to Schools of Varying Quality
Language: English
Authors: Sarah Asson (ORCID 0009-0001-0412-5279)
Source: Educational Policy. 2024 38(7):1563-1607.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 45
Publication Date: 2024
Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL)
Contract Number: 1749275
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: School District Reorganization, Attendance, Equal Education, Racial Discrimination, School Desegregation, Busing, Access to Education, Educational Opportunities, Educational Quality
Geographic Terms: District of Columbia
DOI: 10.1177/08959048241271370
ISSN: 0895-9048
1552-3896
Abstract: U.S. public schools provide substantially different educational opportunities to students--even within school districts, where attendance zone boundaries (AZBs) shape most children's access to schools. The (re)drawing of AZBs is therefore a highly consequential policy decision. In this paper, I study how AZB changes in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area affect children of different races between 2000 and 2020, including how they alter children's travel times to school and access to school-level educational opportunities. Findings are starkly unequal, with rezoning disproportionately negatively affecting Black and Hispanic children. Results highlight the need for educational leaders to explicitly consider how AZB changes will redistribute opportunity within their districts.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: EJ1444733
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:U.S. public schools provide substantially different educational opportunities to students--even within school districts, where attendance zone boundaries (AZBs) shape most children's access to schools. The (re)drawing of AZBs is therefore a highly consequential policy decision. In this paper, I study how AZB changes in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area affect children of different races between 2000 and 2020, including how they alter children's travel times to school and access to school-level educational opportunities. Findings are starkly unequal, with rezoning disproportionately negatively affecting Black and Hispanic children. Results highlight the need for educational leaders to explicitly consider how AZB changes will redistribute opportunity within their districts.
ISSN:0895-9048
1552-3896
DOI:10.1177/08959048241271370