ABSTRACT
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act seeks to enhance equality of educational opportunity, close achievement gaps, and improve academic achievement through market inspired reforms. Among its many provisions, NCLB gives families the opportunity to transfer their children from low-performing to high-performing schools by giving them an opt-out choice. 1 Advocates of school choice consider a student's opportunity to transfer to be a central component of equality of educational opportunity. Furthermore, the choice to transfer from a low-performing school will ultimately improve the quality of instruction and student outcomes for those remaining in the underperforming schools through the discipline of market forces (Chubb and Moe 1991; Godwin and Kamerer 2002; Peterson and Hassel 1998). 2 Market mechanisms will stimulate schools to improve and attract the "clientele" they need to survive.
