Incentive Matters: School Decision Making at the Intersection of Markets and Accountability

• In Event: Roundtable Session 32
  In Roundtable Session: How Schools Respond to Parental Choice

Abstract

Drawing on interview data collected during the 2008-2009 academic year, I examine the complex role principals of public high schools of choice play in the educational market in New York City. I find that the schools are not static actors in the choice process. In particular, the decision-making of principals in the market is shaped by the mixed political incentives of accountability measures and market-based reforms. These blended reform efforts can lead to “perverse incentives” for schools, which result in ethical dilemmas and, occasionally, sorting practices on the part of the schools.

Author

• Sarah Butler Jessen, New York University