On Becoming a District of Choice: Implications for Segregation Along the U.S.-Mexico Border

• In Event: 16.060 - Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: 16.060-8 - The Politics of School Choice and Educational Opportunity

Abstract

This study analyzes the extent to which students in the El Paso Independent School District take advantage of open-enrollment options and how it affects the socio-economic, racial, and linguistic composition of schools. We describe two alternate theories of the potential outcomes of the choice policy and use school-level data from 2013-14 and 2014-15 to test these theories. We examine whether the policy has led to concentration or dispersion of disadvantaged students and explore parental preferences for schools by identifying school characteristics associated with positive net transfer rates. We ultimately find that schools with high levels of economic disadvantage and minority students are losing the most students without gaining many new students, which has implications for student achievement and school closures.

Authors

• Stephen Kotok, St. John's University

• David S. Knight, University of Texas at El Paso

• Rodolfo Rincones, The University of Texas - El Paso

• Luis Eduardo Rivera, University of Texas at El Paso