Meddling with school choice: comparing education policy interventions and their impact on school segregation

While several studies have investigated the role of parental school choice in exacerbating school segregation, less attention has been paid to the role of institutional contexts and specific educational policies and regulations. However, since the institutional context sets the framework for both school autonomy regarding the admission process and the actual extent of school choice, it has a significant effect on parents’ choices. By comparing two educational contexts that have undergone opposite policy interventions regarding the role of parental choice in school allocation – Mülheim, Germany and Amsterdam, the Netherlands – we confirm the idea that expanding parental choice increases segregation levels. However we also suggest that the relationship between education policies and segregation patterns is very complex and dependent on the interactions of various aspects lying within and outside the education system. Both cases reveal that competition between schools and their discretionary scope in admitting pupils also plays a key part.

虽然有些研究调查了家长择校在加剧学校隔离方面的作用，但对制度环境和具体教育政策法规作用的关注较少。然而，由于制度环境为学校的招生自主权和择校的实际程度设定框架，它对家长的选择有着重要影响。通过比较德国米尔海姆和荷兰阿姆斯特丹这两种教育环境­——二者在学校分配中父母选择的作用方面历经相反的政策干预——我们证实了扩大家长选择会增加隔离程度的观点。不过，我们也认为教育政策和隔离模式之间的关系异常复杂，取决于教育系统内外各方面的相互作用。这两个案例都表明，学校之间的竞争以及它们在招生方面的自由裁量权也起到关键作用。