Universal controlled choice allows a family to choose among schools within the student's district. A major constraint is that each school must maintain the system's desired racial-balance goals. Controlled choice can also be implemented as an intradistrict plan, in which several zones or subdistricts are created that can include magnet programs. Most controlled-choice schemes are modeled after a plan first implemented in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1981.
Families select and rank four schools in their district in order of preference.
During the past decade, controlled choice has been adopted by many other cities in Massachusetts, New York, and across the nation. Moreover, choice has not negatively affected the performance of students remaining in neighborhood schools. Choice has made access more equitable than traditional neighborhood-assignment arrangements. Return students left because of disciplinary, adjustment, or academic reasons. This means that not all families exercise choice.