Abstract
In 2013, the Boston Public Schools (BPS) adopted the Home-Based Student Assignment Policy (HBSAP), which replaced elementary and middle-school choice within three large geographic zones with an algorithm that generates a choice basket of schools for each address based on proximity to the student’s home and a guarantee that all baskets will include at least four schools in the top two state test-score quartiles of BPS. Adoption of HBSAP broke a long political stalemate. BPS invited broad public participation in the process but also shaped the agenda to favor what middle-class neighborhood participants wanted. The process obscured the zero-sum politics of student assignment by permitting current students and their younger siblings to continue in their schools after adoption of HBSAP and because the algorithm does not produce winners and losers as obviously as geographically defined student assignment policies do. BPS has not produced a comprehensive evaluation of HBSAP’s effects, but early evidence suggests that it is making enclave schools more white.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
