The Effects of Student Growth Data on School District Choice: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

This online simulation by David M. Houston and Jeffrey R. Henig presented participants with a hypothetical choice of school districts in five different metropolitan areas. Participants were shown information about district demographics and varying amounts and kinds of information about district-level average academic performance. The amount and kind of information received altered the participants’ school district choices: participants shown academic achievement results chose districts with a larger share of White students and a higher average income compared to participants shown no academic performance information, and participants shown information about academic growth chose districts with a larger share of minority students and a higher average income compared to participants shown no academic performance information.