Examination of Out-of-Zone Enrollment as a Form of School Choice

• In Event: Examining Charter School Resources and Practices

Abstract

Parents who choose to enroll their children in public schools typically choose schools through residence-based or school choice policies. However, parents have unequal access to these options, often due to constrained housing choices due to limited income. Therefore, many families may utilize a third method of school choice, out-of-zone enrollment in a traditionally zone school. Using administrative and public use data, we conducted a descriptive and geospatial analysis of this phenomena among elementary students in an urban district and examined how out-of-zone rates vary as a function of school, student, and community characteristics. We find that over 30% of students are enrolled in zone schools other than their own. School, community, and student characteristics indicate more disadvantage among out-of-zone students.

Authors

• Marc L. Stein, Johns Hopkins University

• Zyrashae N. Smith, Johns Hopkins University