By the way, I read the book. It was a little disappointing, at least in terms of matching my interests.
The authors go out of the way to point out that exam schools are racially diverse in ways you might not expect (more African-Americans than the population as a whole).
OK, that's surprising. But it turns out its very driven by how they define an exam school -- Louisville Central High Career Academy gets lumped in with TJ.
The discussions of the schools are also a bit cursory. The question I wanted answered was: are TJ and/or the Illinois Math and Science Academy so special that it's worth moving so my kids can attend them? What are outcomes like for kids at those schools? The only thing resembling outcome data were cursory mentions of the number of AP tests taken, which the reader could then divide by class size.
(Granted there's a big distance between outcomes and a causal effect of attendance, but outcomes would at least tell you about a combination of that effect and the peer group).
Lightly used copy for sale -- PM me if interested (actually I guess that wasn't the best sales pitch!)
