Cullen, J. B., Jacob, B. A. & Levitt, S. D. (2003)

‘The Effect of School Choice on Student Outcomes:
Evidence from Randomised Lotteries ’

NBER working paper 10113

• Examines whether winning a lottery to an oversubscribed school improves student outcomes in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system.
• As in their 1999 paper, the system is CPS’s ‘open enrolment’ scheme. Students are guaranteed a place at a local school, but can ‘opt out’ and apply to any other high school in the CPS. Note, however, that money does not follow the pupil in this system, and schools are not free to expand or contract.
  

Key results:

• No evidence is found that students winning lotteries to popular schools perform better academically.
• However, winning a lottery improves non-academic outcomes such as ready access to computers, suggesting that winners are exposed to higher levels of school resources.
• Nonetheless, even students winning lotteries to high-achieving schools are not significantly more likely to expect to graduate college, enjoy school, have positive interactions with peers or teachers, or feel safe at school.