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How Important are Classroom Peer Effects? Evidence from Boston's Metco Program

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Author Info
Joshua D. Angrist () (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NBER)
Kevin Lang () (Boston University and NBER)

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Abstract

Most integration programs transfer students between schools within districts. In this paper, we study the impact of Metco, a long-running desegregation program that sends mostly black students out of the Boston public school district to attend schools in more affluent suburban districts. We focus on the impact of Metco on the students in one of the largest Metco- receiving districts. In the 2000 school year, Metco increased the proportion black in this district from about 7.5 percent to almost 12.5 percent. Because Metco students have substantially lower test scores than local students, this inflow generates a significant decline in scores, with an especially marked effect on the lower quantiles. The overall decline is due to a composition effect, however, since OLS estimates show no impact on average scores in the sample of all non- Metco students. On the other hand, OLS and fixed effects estimates show some evidence of an effect on the scores of minority 3rd graders in reading and language. Instrumental variables estimates for 3rd graders are imprecise but generally in line with OLS. Further analysis shows the negative effects on 3rd graders to be clearly present only for girls. Given the highly localized nature of these results, we conclude that any peer effects from Metco are modest and short-lived.

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Paper provided by W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in its series Staff Working Papers with number 02-85.

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Date of creation: Oct 2002
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Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:02-85

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Related research
Keywords: Metco; desegregation; Boston; education; Angrist; Lang;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Caroline Hoxby, 2000. "Peer Effects in the Classroom: Learning from Gender and Race Variation," NBER Working Papers 7867, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Marianne Bertrand & Erzo F. P. Luttmer & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2000. "Network Effects And Welfare Cultures," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(3), pages 1019-1055, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Cecilia Elena Rouse, 1998. "Private School Vouchers And Student Achievement: An Evaluation Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(2), pages 553-602, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy, 1997. "Using Maimonides' Rule to Estimate the Effect of Class Size on Student Achievement," NBER Working Papers 5888, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Lawrence F. Katz & Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2001. "Moving To Opportunity In Boston: Early Results Of A Randomized Mobility Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(2), pages 607-654, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain & Steven G. Rivkin, 2002. "New Evidence about Brown v. Board of Education: The Complex Effects of School Racial Composition on Achievement," NBER Working Papers 8741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Jonathan Guryan, 2001. "Desegregation and Black Dropout Rates," NBER Working Papers 8345, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Edward P. Lazear, 2001. "Educational Production," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(3), pages 777-803, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Smith, James P & Welch, Finis R, 1989. "Black Economic Progress after Myrdal," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 519-64, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Kramarz, Francis & Machin, Stephen & Ouazad, Amine, 2008. "What Makes a Test Score? The Respective Contributions of Pupils, Schools, and Peers in Achievement in English Primary Education," IZA Discussion Papers 3866, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Bruce Sacerdote, 2008. "When The Saints Come Marching In: Effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Student Evacuees," NBER Working Papers 14385, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Richard Buddin & Gena Zamarro, 2008. "Teacher Quality, Teacher Licensure Tests, and Student Achievement," Working Papers 555, RAND Corporation Publications Department. [Downloadable!]
  4. Joshua D. Angrist & Kevin Lang, 2004. "Does School Integration Generate Peer Effects? Evidence from Boston's Metco Program," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1613-1634, December. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Patrick Bayer & Randi Pintoff & David E. Pozen, 2003. "Building Criminal Capital Behind Bars: Social Learning in Juvenile Corrections," Working Papers 864, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Anna Aizer, 2008. "Peer Effects and Human Capital Accumulation: the Externalities of ADD," NBER Working Papers 14354, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Bruce Sacerdote, 2004. "What Happens When We Randomly Assign Children to Families?," NBER Working Papers 10894, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Kling, Jeffrey & Liebman, Jeffrey, 2004. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects on Youth," Working Paper Series rwp04-034, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. repec:att:wimass:192042 is not listed on IDEAS
  10. Gould, Eric D & Lavy, Victor & Paserman, Marco Daniele, 2003. "Immigrating to Opportunity: Estimating the Effect of School Quality Using a Natural Experiment on Ethiopians in Israel," CEPR Discussion Papers 4052, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. John C. Ham, 1979. "Rationing and the Supply of Labor: An Econometric Approach," Working Papers 483, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
  12. Jonah Rockoff, 2003. "The Impact of Individual Teachers on Student Achievement: Evidence from Panel Data," Public Economics 0304002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  13. Gary-Bobo, Robert J. & Trannoy, Alain, 2005. "Efficient Tuition & Fees, Examinations and Subsidies," CEPR Discussion Papers 5011, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Eric D. Gould & Victor Lavy & M. Daniele Paserman, 2004. "Does Immigration Affect the Long-Term Educational Outcomes of Natives? Quasi-Experimental Evidence," NBER Working Papers 10844, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. David N. Figlio, 2005. "Boys Named Sue: Disruptive Children and their Peers," NBER Working Papers 11277, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Bruce A. Weinberg, 2007. "Social Interactions with Endogenous Associations," NBER Working Papers 13038, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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