The Effect of Centralized-Admission School Lotteries on Between-School Segregation: Evidence from 300 Largest School Districts in the United States

Francisco Lagos (), Jason Saltmarsh and Jing Liu ()
Additional contact information
Francisco Lagos: University of Maryland at College Park
Jason Saltmarsh: Old Dominion University
Jing Liu: University of Maryland

No 18306, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This study examines how centralized-admission school lotteries affect between-school racial and ethnic segregation in the largest U.S. public school districts. Using original nationwide panel data and a difference-in-differences design with staggered adoption, the research analyzes effects on school composition, intergroup exposure, and distribution evenness. The findings reveal that centralized-admission lotteries led to increased White student enrollment in district schools and modest improvements in intergroup exposure. Black-White exposure rose by 1.6 percentage points and student of color-White exposure by 1.8 points. However, White students experienced reduced exposure to all racial and ethnic groups, with similar patterns for Black, Asian, and other students of color. While centralized lotteries modestly redistribute students, they do not significantly reduce overall segregation, challenging assumptions about equity-promoting reforms. These results underscore the need for complementary policies including weighted lottery designs, transportation subsidies, and targeted adoption to address the structural roots of school segregation.

Keywords: school choice; centralized-admission lotteries; school segregation; student assignment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 I24 I28 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp18306.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18306

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().