Working Paper: NBER ID: w27887
Authors: Kehinde F. Ajayi; Willa H. Friedman; Adrienne M. Lucas
Abstract: Students often make school choice decisions with inadequate information. We present results from delivering information to randomly selected students (and some randomly selected parents) across 900 junior high schools in Ghana, a country with universal secondary school choice. We provided guidance on application strategies and reported the selectivity and exit exam performance of secondary schools, information students and parents prioritized. We find that despite information changing the characteristics of schools to which students applied and students gaining admission to higher value-added schools, they were not more likely to matriculate on time or at all. Information was not the only constraint.
Keywords: school choice; information provision; randomized controlled trial; educational outcomes; Ghana
JEL Codes: D84; I21; I24; I25; O15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Providing information to students and parents (I20) | Characteristics of schools to which students applied (I23) |
| Providing information to students and parents (I20) | Likelihood of matriculation on time or at all (C41) |
| Targeting of information provision (to students vs. parents) (I21) | Students' reported application priorities (I23) |
| Providing information to students and parents (I20) | Application behaviors (L20) |
| Information alone (D89) | Matriculation rates (I23) |
| Information was salient and believed by respondents (D83) | Change in application behavior (C99) |