Does School Choice Reduce Crime?: Evidence from North Carolina

Autor/in	Deming, David J.
Titel	Does School Choice Reduce Crime?: Evidence from North Carolina
Quelle	In: Education Next, 12 (2012) 2, S.70-76 (7 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1539-9664
Schlagwörter	Neighborhood Schools; School Choice; Disadvantaged Youth; Criminals; Socioeconomic Influences; At Risk Students; Crime; Delinquency; Comparative Analysis; Adolescents; Middle School Students; High School Students; Racial Differences; Gender Differences; African American Students; Educational Quality; North Carolina + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Choice of school; Schulwahl; Benachteiligter Jugendlicher; Straftäter; Sozioökonomischer Faktor; Crimes; Delict; Delicts; Delikt; Kriminalität; Adolescent; Adolescence; Adoleszenz; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; Middle school; Middle schools; Student; Students; Mittelschule; Mittelstufenschule; Schüler; Schülerin; High school; High schools; Oberschule; Studentin; Rassenunterschied; Geschlechterkonflikt; African Americans; Afroamerikaner; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität
Abstract	In this study, the author investigates whether the opportunity to attend a school other than a student's assigned neighborhood school reduces criminal activity, especially among disadvantaged youth. Many of the schools chosen by the students were "better" on traditional indicators, such as student test scores and teacher characteristics. All of them, however, were preferred by the applicant over the default option. The analysis therefore sheds light on whether efforts to expand school choice can be an effective crime-prevention strategy, particularly when disadvantaged students can gain access to "better" schools. He compares the criminal activity of students who won the lottery to attend their first-choice school to that of students who lost the lottery. He finds consistent evidence that attending a better school reduces crime among those age 16 and older, across various schools, and for both middle and high school students. The effect is largest for African American males and youth who are at highest risk for criminal involvement. In general, high-risk male youth commit about 50 percent less crime as a result of winning the school-choice lottery. They are also more likely to remain enrolled in school, and they show modest improvements on measures of behavior such as absences and suspensions. (Contains 2 figures.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Hoover Institution. Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-6010. Tel: 800-935-2882; Fax: 650-723-8626; e-mail: educationnext@hoover.stanford.edu; Web site: http://educationnext.org/journal/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10