Tracking and specialization of high schools: Heterogeneous effects of school choice

Abstract

We analyze the impact of choosing an elite school on high school graduation in an early tracking system in Flanders (Belgium). Elite schools offer only an academic track, while most other schools offer multiple tracks. On average, students experience a 3.3 percentage point increase in the likelihood of obtaining a degree. We find that the effects are heterogeneous. On average, students who self-select into elite schools do not experience an effect, while students who do not choose an elite school would experience positive effects. Our results can be explained by different tracking decisions in both types of schools.

Having your career path decided too early: the effects of high school track on education-occupation mismatch

“…In this paper, we contribute to this emerging line of research by investigating the link between a multi-dimensional decision process related to high school specialization and the occurrence of job-education mismatch after graduation. Second, our study adds to a new strand of literature that jointly analyzes high school and college choices (Joensen and Nielsen, 2016;De Groote and Declercq, 2021;Aucejo and James, 2021;Saltiel, 2023;Humphries et al, 2023). This is of interest, given the large consequences of educational choices on outcomes beyond the education system.…”

Dynamic Effort Choice in High School: Costs and Benefits of an Academic Track

“…They allow for a single unobserved trait (potentially transitioning over time). Because high school takes six years to complete and we add two stages after high school, this shows that no 14 As we argue in De Groote and Declercq (2021), this context lends itself to the use of this instrument as students have many school options available to them and parents are therefore not expected to take this into account in their location decisions. Importantly, free school choice is protected by the Belgian constitution and prevents schools from cream-skimming or prioritizing students of the same neighborhood.…”

“…Cockx et al (2019) estimate average treatment effects within high school for students that are forced to repeat grades or switch tracks. Recent evidence suggests that switching tracks can reduce the negative impact of early track choice (De Groote and Declercq, 2021;Dustmann et al, 2017). I contribute by investigating the impact of flexibility in tracking policies during secondary education.…”