The Signaling Effect: School Accountability Ratings and Educational Systemic School Segregation

• In Event: Schools, Neighborhoods, and the Geography of Educational Opportunity

Abstract

The study investigates whether practices of school accountability ratings are associated with Educational Systemic School Segregation (ESSS). To deal with reverse causality (where higher proportions of White students would result in higher ratings), I leverage Washington, DC, data to apply a unique Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) to observe a causal effect of school ratings on segregation. Results suggest that high-rated schools may have a higher degree of disproportionality of White students (comparing schools to their neighborhood demographics). High ratings also reduce the probability of having a segregated school in a diverse neighborhood. The study suggests that residential segregation, educational policy, and the role of accountability systems should not be overlooked in the study of drivers of school segregation.

Author

• Etai Mizrav, Northeastern University