Trade-Offs of Attending Better Schools: Achievement, Self-Perceptions and Educational Trajectories.

This article examines the causal impacts of attending higher-achieving middle schools on marginally admitted students in Mexico City, focusing on test scores, graduation rates, socio-emotional skills, aspirations, and high school track choices. Using a regression discontinuity design based on admission cut-offs between morning (higher-achieving) and afternoon (lower-achieving) school shifts within the same facilities, the study finds modest improvements in externally graded language test scores but no gains in math. Conversely, students admitted to better schools receive lower teacher-assigned grades, are more likely to fail courses, experience delayed graduation, report worse self-perceptions of academic ability and conscientiousness, and show a shift in aspirations from academic to vocational tracks. These findings suggest that unfavorable peer comparisons and relative academic ranking within higher-achieving schools may negatively influence teacher assessments and students' self-concept, outweighing potential benefits from improved school inputs or peer quality.