TY - JOUR
T1 - Who benefits from selective education? Evidence from elite boarding school admissions
AU - Shi, Ying
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Existing research finds minimal gains from attending elite US secondary schools. This paper estimates the causal effect of attending a selective public boarding school, an institutional model increasingly used by states to serve academically gifted students. Regression discontinuity estimates using multiple admissions thresholds show math score gains and college application and enrollment patterns that shift away from less competitive colleges. Effects are concentrated among minorities, students with lower prior individual achievement, from rural neighborhoods, or lower-achieving sending schools. The opportunity to attend selective boarding schools reduces the tendency of disadvantaged or under-represented students to attend a less selective college by at least one-quarter.
AB - Existing research finds minimal gains from attending elite US secondary schools. This paper estimates the causal effect of attending a selective public boarding school, an institutional model increasingly used by states to serve academically gifted students. Regression discontinuity estimates using multiple admissions thresholds show math score gains and college application and enrollment patterns that shift away from less competitive colleges. Effects are concentrated among minorities, students with lower prior individual achievement, from rural neighborhoods, or lower-achieving sending schools. The opportunity to attend selective boarding schools reduces the tendency of disadvantaged or under-represented students to attend a less selective college by at least one-quarter.
KW - Achievement gap
KW - Peer effects
KW - Selective education
KW - STEM education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068764103&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85068764103&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.07.001
DO - 10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.07.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85068764103
JO - Economics of Education Review
JF - Economics of Education Review
SN - 0272-7757
M1 - 101907
ER -