We exploit a German state-level reform that shifted the right to decide on students’ secondary school track from teachers to parents. Applying a disaggregated synthetic control approach to administrative data, we find that transition rates to higher tracks increase substantially, with stronger responses in richer districts. Simultaneously, grade repetition in the first grades of secondary school almost doubles, which has implications on graduation rates at the end of secondary school. Evidence from micro-level data allowing linkage of student achievement to family, teacher, and school characteristics confirms: when high-SES parents are given the right, they disproportionately place their children in higher-than-recommended tracks. This comes at the expense of worse achievement gains for their children.

Dr. Holly Dykstra is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Konstanz. She is a behavioral economist studying how individuals make policy-relevant decisions, especially in household f...