School Choice Research Articles

When is a sequential school choice system (non-)deficient?

When is a sequential school choice system (non-)deficient?

School choice with independent versus consolidated districts

This paper studies the welfare effects of school district consolidation. Using incomplete rank-ordered lists (ROLs) submitted for admission to the Hungarian secondary school system, we estimate complete ROLs assuming that parents do not use dominated strategies and that the matching outcome is stable. These estimates aid in constructing a counterfactual district-based assignment and discerning the factors driving parents' preferences over schools. We find that district consolidation leads to large welfare gains in Budapest, equivalent to students attending a school five kilometres closer to their residences. These gains offset the additional travel distances incurred in the consolidated assignment. 73% of matched students benefit from district consolidation, while fewer than 3% are assigned to a less preferred school. Students from smaller and less under-demanded districts benefit relatively more, as well as those with high academic ability. Using reported preferences instead of estimated ones also yields large gains from district consolidation.

Oktatási mélyfúrások: Különböző fenntartású középiskolák profilja 11. osztályos tanulóik jellemzői alapján

The choice of a secondary school is influenced by several factors, for example the profil of the institution. In previous researches children with better family backgrounds prefer the „unique” (classes with an increased number of lessons, bilingual training or schools with non-state maintainer) institutions (Hegedűs, 2016; Garami, 2020). In our paper, we analyse the database called „Learning and teaching German in Hajdú-Bihar and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties (2018–2019)”, with data of 890 students, who learned German and/or English in the 11th grade of secondary grammar or technical school in this school year. From this database, we examine the data of eight institutions of four maintainers (466 students) in SPSS program with crosstabs- and ANOVA-analysis with the following variables: maintainer of the secondary school, family background of the students and characters of secondary school choice. According to our results, the secondary school choice and learning foreign languages can characterised with consideration for practicum, further learning’s plan and the usefulness on the labour market. The students chose the analysed institutions mostly because of the high level of the teaching, the simplicity of all-days going to town and the simple higher educational admission.

Development of Powtoon-Based Learning Videos to Improve Learning Outcomes in Siroh Subjects at Markazur Quraan Baitun Najaah

Powtoon-based learning media has become a popular choice in education to improve learning effectiveness. This scientific article was prepared using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method. The SLR method is used to identify, review, evaluate and interpret all available research with the topic area of the phenomenon of interest, with specific relevant research questions. The researcher used 10 articles as references in this study. Results Previous studies have shown that the use of Powtoon in learning maths, science and history has yielded positive results. It not only improves comprehension of the material, but also enhances students' visual appeal, creativity, innovation, learning experience and learning motivation. With attractive animation features, Powtoon creates a dynamic, interactive, and fun learning environment for students. Therefore, the use of Powtoon media can be an effective strategy in improving the quality of learning and student learning outcomes in various subjects.

The effect of academic outcomes, equity, and student demographics on parental preferences for schools: evidence from a survey experiment

Abstract How does competition for school resources, along with racial and socioeconomic biases, shape parental preferences for schools? In this article, I investigate how school attributes affect preferences and choice, which sheds light on the processes that maintain school segregation. To do so, I conduct a survey experiment that explores parental preferences and the tradeoffs inherent in the process of school selection using school profiles that resemble those available on widely used education data platforms. I find that parents hold the strongest positive preferences for learning opportunities and overall school achievement compared to other attributes, including school racial and socioeconomic composition. Additionally, though parents prefer schools that have higher equity rankings, highly equitable schools are less desirable to parents than schools with more status and learning opportunities. However, parents also hold independent racial and socioeconomic preferences and —on average—avoid schools with more students of color and low-income students. Furthermore, results suggest they are largely unwilling to make tradeoffs that would result in schools with higher fractions of students of color or low-income students. Taken together, this study links prior studies on the segregating effects of educational data with literatures on school segregation by illustrating the specific dimensions that drive school choice.

Is being clever enough? Young people’s construction of the ideal student in computer science education

ABSTRACT Popular discourses of computing and computer science can often frame the sector and the people within it as highly intelligent yet socially challenged, contributing to stereotypes that can potentially exclude those perceived to lack these skills or characteristics. For young people, such stereotypes can influence their educational and career aspirations, especially if there are discrepancies between their own identity and perceptions of what is desirable for computer science students. Drawing on open-ended questionnaire data from 3235 young people in England (aged 11–16), we collected 9442 keywords that students used to describe their “ideal student” in computer science education. An understanding of these perceptions allows us to recognise the prevailing stereotypes that may be shaping young people’s views and aspirations. In this paper, we employ an innovative large-scale descriptive analysis of the most common words that students use to describe the ideal computer science student, including its differences, if any, by students’ demographic background (e.g. gender, ethnicity, free school meal) and responses to the questionnaire (e.g. aspirations to be a computer scientist). We tentatively identified eight clusters of popular ideal student characteristics, namely being Smart & Clever; Knowledgeable & Interested; Determined & Hardworking; Kind & Helpful; Creative; Independent; Confident; and Collaborative. By examining how students imagine the ideal student in computer science, we gain better understanding of their educational aspirations and choice of study and provide educators with valuable insights to potentially challenge and reshape these perceptions. These insights can inform educational interventions to foster a more inclusive computing education.

Reconciling Ideals of Autonomy and Parental Influence. Young People’s Stories of Educational Choice

Young people’s room for autonomy and independent life choices is challenged by intensive parenting practices and ambiguous ideals underpinning the youth-parent relationship. In this article, we explore how young people make sense of and relate to parental influence as they are about to make choices of higher education. Through Foucauldian discourse analyses of interviews with 23 young men and women (19 years) in Oslo, Norway, this study sheds light on how the youth reconciled ideals of self-expression and self-determination with perceived parental influence. We demonstrate how their ‘autonomous self’ is portrayed as ‘accountable’ and ‘malleable’, to allow for parent’s influence through their subject positions as ‘advisor’ and ‘socialising agent’. These subject positions overlap with discourses of intensive parenting previously described as disciplining the modern parent. We discuss whether youth contribute to the cultivation of ‘the intensive parent’, and the potential the ideal of autonomy holds for conformity to normalizing powers.

Dark and light university: The relationship between dark and light personality traits and educational choices and the desire for power as a mediating factor

The present research investigates the role of dark and light personality traits in determining academic discipline preferences among university students. Two studies showed that university students with relatively high scores on dark personality traits (specifically, narcissism and Machiavellianism) and relatively low scores on light personality traits are over-represented in business and law programs, compared to psychology and other academic disciplines. The results further suggest that personality is a distal determinant of academic discipline choice, with human values being the proximal determinant. Specifically, high scores in dark/low light personalities express a desire for power, which explains why they choose economics or law as their academic discipline. Contrary to our expectations, low dark/high light personalities were not over-represented in psychology, compared to other academic disciplines. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of considering personality traits and human values in understanding academic discipline choices among university students. Recognizing these factors can inform educational institutions in developing strategies to better support students in aligning their academic pursuits with their personal characteristics and values.

The impact of math anxiety and self-efficacy in middle school STEM choices: A 3-year longitudinal study.

In today's world, which is progressively oriented towards science and technology and facing a growing demand for skilled professionals, it becomes essential to identify the factors that encourage individuals to pursue careers in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Previous research has shown that affective-motivational factors, math performance and gender influence STEM occupational and academic choices in adulthood. However, few studies examined how these factors may influence STEM choices as early as middle school. This study aims to assess how math anxiety, math self-efficacy, math performance and gender influence STEM school choices during middle school. We longitudinally assessed a group of 109 students (Year 6) over three school years, with measurements taken on three different occasions. Findings indicated that individuals who made an STEM school choice experienced lower math anxiety, higher self-efficacy and math performance and were predominantly male. Furthermore, the results indicated that both math anxiety in Year 7 and self-efficacy in Year 6 made the most substantial unique contributions to the STEM school choice. Math anxiety and math self-efficacy seem to be both crucial in influencing middle school students' STEM choices, offering new perspectives for early interventions aimed at promoting more informed school choices.

Is private education worth it? Evidence from school-to-work transitions in Chile

Using comprehensive longitudinal data from Chile, we examine the impact of attending a private high school on labor market outcomes. The empirical strategy exploits conditional independence assumptions and leverages the effects of self-selection based on ability. We establish that private high schools boost average adult earnings by 99–144 dollars a month (relative to public schools), equivalent to a 15%–22% premium. We then explore potential channels behind these effects. Both academic and non-academic factors emerge as mediators. Our findings highlight the importance of financial resources, as education investments have long-term impacts on private high school students, while yielding negligible effects for those attending public and voucher schools. Finally, we document the prominent role of firms as mediators of the private school advantages during the school-to-work transition. Our analysis provides new insights into the association between school choice and income disparities, even after controlling for pre-labor market academic performance.

Adolescents’ Active Transport to School and Parental Perspectives in a School Choice Policy Environment

Internationally many adolescents do not meet the recommended level of regular physical activity. Although active transport to school (ATS) is promoted to increase physical activity in adolescents, relying solely on ATS is not feasible for those who live beyond walkable or cyclable distance to school. School choice education policies complicate the potential of ATS when adolescents do not enrol in the closest school. This research contributes to sparse New Zealand and growing international literature to examine parental perspectives on school choice, travel to school decisions and modes of travel to school in adolescents enrolled in the closest versus non-closest school.We analysed questionnaire responses from 352 parents in Dunedin, differentiating results for enrolment in the closest versus non-closest school. Overall, only 38.9% of adolescents enrolled in their closest school. The adolescents who enrolled in their closest school lived closer to school and more frequently used ATS compared to their peers who enrolled in a non-closest school (home-to-school distance (walkable (≤2.25 km)/cyclable (>2.25–4.0 km)/beyond cyclable (>4.0 km)): 47.4%/27.8%/24.8% versus 4.8%/20.3%/74.9%; p < 0.001; transport to school (active/motorised/mixed): 40.9%/56.9%/2.2% versus 9.3%/82.7%/7.9%; p < 0.001). Nearly three-quarters of school choice decisions were made by parents jointly with their adolescent. Parents whose adolescent enrolled in the closest school more frequently reported proximity to home, social connection and school’s co-educational status (only for adolescents enrolled in co-educational school) as reasons for school choice compared to their counterparts. Mixed-mode initiatives may support adolescents to increase ATS when they attend a school beyond cyclable distance.

Tensions undermining equitable school funding: insights from Australia

ABSTRACT School funding policy in Australia not only promotes educational equity in some ways but also creates substantial between-school resource inequalities due to its embrace of market ideologies. School funding policies are designed to promote school choice and competition, based on the assumption that they are both a right and an effective lever for improving educational outcomes. School funding is used to create an educational marketplace with varying ‘price points’, leading to the acceptance of a two-tiered system of basic provision via the public sector and enhanced provision for those willing to pay via the private sector. Political commitment to making school funding more equitable has been largely absent. Marketisation is the mechanism by which schooling maintains its capacity to reproduce social inequality without evoking class-based discourse or anxiety.

Child Labor, Corruption, and Development

Abstract Employing an overlapping generations model with endogenous education choice and corruption, we investigate how child labor and corruption influence human capital accumulation and development. We show that multiple steady states exist in the economy. One steady state has a high level of human capital, while the other has a low level of human capital. In the steady state with a low level of human capital, child labor and corruption exist, fertility and child mortality rates are high, and the welfare level is low. Conversely, in the steady state with a high level of human capital, child labor and corruption are diminished, fertility and child mortality rates are low, and welfare is high. In addition, we show that it is difficult to steer an economy away from a poverty trap with child labor and corruption because bureaucrats of the current generation are opposed to policy changes, such as the reinforcement of monitoring and penal regulations. However, we highlight the possibility for the government to develop the economy in the poverty trap by implementing an education policy, which is Pareto improving.

The Father of the School Choice Movement

ABSTRACT Milton Friedman is widely considered the intellectual father of the school choice movement. While Friedman deserves much credit, Father Virgil Blum stands out as an influential figure in the nascent school choice movement. Using archival research, this paper examines Blum’s contributions to the movement. From his 1954 doctoral dissertation, which made the legal case for funding religious schools, to his 1958 book, Freedom of Choice in Education, and his decades-long career as a professor, Blum was a tireless advocate for educational freedom. While Friedman made the market argument, Blum made the legal, moral, and religious freedom arguments for school choice.

Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill, and the School Choice Movement’s Normative Roots

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the ensuring culture wars, the American school choice coalition has almost completely unraveled, but many school choice advocates assert that the coalition can be rebuilt. In this essay, I argue that the school choice coalition dissolved not because of politics or circumstance, but because the coalition’s libertarians, progressives, and conservatives have fundamentally different first principles in politics and education – first principles that are present in the works of theorists like Thomas Paine and John Stuart Mill. By studying Paine and Mill, we can understand that any education-reform coalition will be a temporary aberration rather than an enduring alliance.

Arizona

The State of Arizona had a change in governorship, which has now shifted priorities. State policymakers continue to advocate for school choice and the state’s ESA program, while the new governor attempts to repeal the omnibus mandate. This manuscript provides an overview of the legislation related to P-20 funding, including Arizona’s funding priorities for P-12 and/or higher education, changes to the school funding formula, and the major human resources management initiatives funded through the new governor’s budget and several house and senate bills.

Indiana

This report about Indiana school funding relates to budgetary changes in the state’s school funding priorities and technical changes to its state aid to schools formula. Pressing issues that affect school funding as well as public policy dimensions of alternatives to traditional public schools are considered. The most pressing need for the schooling system that is mediated by the school funding program remains increasing the labor market supply of highly credentialed teachers. The most evident public policy trend is the continuing expansion of free market-based school choice options.

Utah

Many changes to education were made this past year in the state of Utah. Priorities involved early literacy programs, increasing teacher salaries, increasing opportunities for school choice, and the elimination of school grades. Higher education is set to undergo a major reconstruction this upcoming year. FY2024 is set for a 10.18% increase to the Minimum School Program (MSP), which is the primary funding source for public school districts and charter schools.

Montana

Montana has prioritized increasing K-12 funding, creating new school quality rules, and a new pilot for student testing as their priorities for this fiscal year. Additionally, the state has increased their funding for higher education by 4%, and two bills, HB203 and HB562, were passed that support school choice. Per-pupil expenditure has increased by 2.7% for FY2024. Montana operates on a biennium, and roughly 16.13% of the total budget is spent on education in FY2024.

The Career of Students who Use a Different Language at Home and at School

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The objective of the research is to understand how the ethnic composition of the family and the choice of the language of the school are related. THE RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND METHODS: Minorities are often the subject of research, and within, bilingualism, language use arenas and state language education are prominent topics, how‑ ever, the issue of ethnic minority students studying in majority institutions is relatively unexplored. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: Our research is focused on the ethnic Hungarian minority in Romania, their decisions and their experiences of education in the majority language. The present qualitative research was carried out in a semi‑structured interview format in November 2023 with 14 respondents, reached by snowball method. RESEARCH RESULTS: Our results show that, in addition to proximity to the institution and the increased possibility of doing well in the country, the school experience of parents and older children are factors behind the decision made by parents. Nevertheless, we also find that extended family, even the third generation, has an impact on school choice. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND APPLICABLE VALUE OF RESEARCH: The research presents a perspective that focuses on the educational results of respondents most of whom proved to be successful in their respective fields. The results we found confirm hypotheses from the literature regarding the language choices of different nationalities. The research is a part of a larger project which aims at the exploration the research upon the students attending non‑native language schools.