How to Equalize Access to Competitive Schools of Choice

• In Event: School Choice, Stratification, and Civil Rights: The Buffalo Story

Abstract

The 165 competitive admissions public secondary schools of choice—located in 31 states and Washington, D.C.—use specified criteria, often including tests, to admit students (Finn & Hockett, 2012). Supporters of these schools assert that benefits include rigorous curricula, dedicated teachers, and motivated peers (Finn & Hockett, 2012). Concurrently, competitive admissions schools have been criticized for enrolling disproportionately high shares of white, middle-class students. High-profile complaints against such schools have been filed with the Office for Civil Rights, including in Buffalo, New York City, and Virginia. At stake is equitable access to highly-regarded, publicly-funded settings that send nearly 100% of rigorously prepared students on to pursue postsecondary degrees. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on an array of policy options and identify policies to promote more equitable access to competitive admissions schools in BPS, focusing on City Honors and Olmsted, the two most competitive, exam-based schools in BPS.

The integration theory of school choice emerged from the civil rights era and focuses on regulated choice as a voluntary mechanism for pursuing equity and diversity (Goldring & Smrekar, 2000). Having diversity goals, providing free transportation, and conducting outreach can make choice more fair (Authors, 2013b). City Honors and Olmsted were created as part of BPS’s magnet-centric desegregation plan and operated under desegregation standards. However, in the aftermath of unitary status (1995) and a reverse discrimination case (1997), these schools, which admit students based on cognitive skills tests, standardized state tests, grades, and teacher recommendations, no longer have diversity goals.

This study uses a mixed methods approach to explore inequalities in BPS’s competitive admissions schools.

Using document analysis, we reviewed admissions policies for City Honors and Olmsted. To learn more, we conducted interviews and focus groups with 6 district administrators, 8 counselors, 10 principals, 19 teachers, 117 parents, and 62 students. We also analyzed surveys from 860 parents, 290 students, and 295 teachers, counselors, and principals.

We identified the following barriers to access: (1) insufficient number of choices, (2) the use of standardized tests as an admissions criterion, (3) inadequate preparation in elementary school, (4) insufficient information, (5) an unclear admissions process, (6) lack of support for English Language Learners, and (7) transportation to testing sites.

Based on these barriers, we offer the following policy options. (1) Create more criteria-based schools. (2) Change the criteria to deemphasize testing. (3) Allocate 10% of seats to students who deserve special consideration. (4) Institute a summer preparatory program and a school-year tutoring/counseling program for students with weaker preparation. (5) Create a parent information center. (6) Develop diversity plans and recruitment strategies. (7) Offer testing at students’ home schools during the school day.

The combination of policies a district adopts to address inequalities in competitive admissions schools depends on the context. This paper provides one set of options that could be used in other school districts with similar contexts. Future research should monitor progress in Buffalo after these policies are implemented.

Authors

• Jenn Ayscue, University of California - Los Angeles

• Genevieve Parker Siegel-Hawley, Virginia Commonwealth University