The impact of performance information on citizen perceptions of school district efficiency, trust in government, and support for taxes

Abstract

We report the results of a random assignment experiment that examines the effect of revealing actual school district performance on three important outcomes: perceptions of efficiency, trust in government, and support for higher taxes for increased school spending. We randomly assign survey respondents to a control group or experimental condition that includes information about how their school district's test scores compare to their state average. Our study includes 2604 observations from an on‐line panel fielded in the United States from October through December, 2022 which allows us to precisely estimate the effect of performance information on outcomes. We find that providing high‐performance information has significant and substantial effects that improve efficiency perceptions, trust in the school district, and support for taxes.