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Education Policy
Review of The Economic Impact from Colorado's Choice to Participate in the "Education Freedom Tax Credit" Provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Publication Date
May 21, 2026
Authors
Thomas Young and Jimena Sanchez; Joydeep Roy, Teachers College, Columbia University
Research Areas
School Funding; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The Common Sense Institute recently published a report declaring large potential benefits of the federal education tax-credit voucher program created through President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill. However, the report's claims about the improvements the program would create for Colorado are unlikely to materialize.
Studying the First Year of Trump's Second Term: The Renewed Importance of Participatory Governance
Publication Date
April 21, 2026
Authors
Derek Gottlieb
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
The first year of the second Trump administration has seen a radical break from six decades of federal education policy, discarding the longstanding vision of equal access and human capital development in favor of a new, and as yet undefined, approach to American educational governance. In a new policy brief, Studying the First Year of Trump's Second Term: The Renewed Importance of Participatory Governance, Dr. Derek Gottlieb, a leading scholar of education policy, examines the educational purposes that administration officials have publicly articulated across a variety of platforms, along with the actions that the federal government has taken over the past year to achieve its goals.
The Cycle of Disinvestment in Public Schools: How Public School Criticism Drives Policy and Disinvestment
Publication Date
March 3, 2026
Authors
Huriya Jabbar, Huriya Jabbar and Daniel Espinoza of the University of Southern California; Daniel Espinoza, University of Southern California
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
Critiques of public education have intensified in recent years. While public schools do indeed have real areas in need of growth and improvement, many of today’s attacks are generated and amplified by organizations seeking to manufacture crises. These narratives often ignore counterevidence, and they use deceptive language to portray the system as broadly failing, even hopeless. To examine these destructive critiques, Huriya Jabbar and Daniel Espinoza of the University of Southern California authored a policy brief, The Cycle of Disinvestment in Public Schools: How Public School Criticism Drives Policy and Disinvestment, released today by NEPC. The brief identifies five core narratives used to portray a failing education system: claims of underachievement, inefficiency, inequality, lack of school choice, and indoctrination.
Review of NEPC Review: Estimating the LongRun Impact of a Universal ESA Program in Mississippi
Publication Date
February 24, 2026
Authors
Martin Lueken and Michael Q. McShan; David S. Knight, University of Washington
Research Areas
School Funding; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from EdChoice estimates the long-term economic returns of a universal education savings account (ESA) policy in Mississippi. ESA policies provide taxpayer dollars to households that decline to send their children to public schools, allowing those funds to be used for private school tuition or other educational expenses. As ESAs and similar school choice programs expand rapidly across the country, rigorous research is essential to inform sound, evidence-based policymaking.
Review of Outmatched: Special Education Can't Solve Problems Rooted in the Education Delivery System
Publication Date
January 22, 2026
Authors
Ashley Jochim and Alexander Kurz; Federico Waitoller, University of Illinois Chicago
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
While special education in the United States has advanced civil rights and educational equity, persistent concerns about inequity, labeling, and segregation remain. A recent Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) report proposes a dramatic restructuring of special education, arguing that rising identification rates and persistent achievement gaps stem from a general education system built for uniformity rather than diversity.
Review of ESA's in Arizona: Q3 2025 Report
Publication Date
December 4, 2025
Authors
Glenn Farley; David Garcia, Arizona State University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) addresses two important policy questions about Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program: 1) how much the ESA program will cost in the upcoming year, and 2) what the demographic characteristics of ESA users are by household income and race/ethnicity.
Christian Nationalism and Educational Policy in the United States
Publication Date
November 4, 2025
Authors
Kevin Burke, University of Georgia; Heidi Hadley, Auburn University
Research Areas
Curriculum & Instruction; Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
American public education faces an escalating challenge: the rise of Christian nationalism. This movement entwines politics and religion, insisting the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation and should be governed by rigid hierarchies under the Christian God. A new policy brief explores the political and ideological effects this movement has on education policy.
Review of Wisconsin's Most Cost-Effective K-12 Program
Publication Date
October 28, 2025
Authors
School Choice Wisconsin; Bruce Baker, University of Miami
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
As one of the nation's longest-running private school voucher initiatives, Wisconsin's program has drawn decades of research interest. A recent report from a think tank called School Choice Wisconsin considers the cost-effectiveness of voucher-receiving schools in Racine, Milwaukee, and across the state.
Review of Let's Get Ready! Educating All Americans for Success
Publication Date
October 14, 2025
Authors
Ryan Pfleger
Research Areas
Assessment & Accountability; Curriculum & Instruction; School Funding; General / Needs Review; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
In late July, the National Governors Association released a report urging states to transform schools into stronger drivers of economic competitiveness. The report recommends that governors build public dashboards to track outcomes, align schools with workforce needs, and evaluate programs based on graduates' earnings potential.
Review of Directional Signals: A New Analysis of the Evolving Private School Choice Landscape
Publication Date
September 30, 2025
Authors
Bella DiMarco; Christopher Lubienski, Indiana University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
In recent years, at least a dozen states have created private school choice (aka voucher) programs that are universal—placing few or no restrictions on wealth or other factors that might limit which families can participate. A FutureEd report examines the expansion of such programs, and provides a generally useful, up-to-date compilation of basic facts and trends around universal voucher programs in 10 states.
Review of Fiscal Factbook: 2025 Edition
Publication Date
September 4, 2025
Authors
Mark Weber, Rutgers University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
As enrollment in school privatization programs grows, right-wing ideological think tanks such as EdChoice have continued to argue that school vouchers and education savings accounts (ESAs) strengthen public school finances. Its Fiscal Factbook purports to find that voucher programs do not harm public school finances. The data presented in the report, however, fail to support its assertion.
Review of Apples to Apples: The Definitive Look at School Test Scores in Milwaukee and Wisconsin for 2024
Publication Date
June 10, 2025
Authors
Will Flanders; Benjamin Shear, University of Colorado Boulder
Research Areas
Charter Schools; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) examines publicly available test score data from Spring 2024 in Wisconsin to investigate the relative effectiveness and cost of school choice programs.
Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place? Disentangling the Intersections of Student Behavior, School Discipline, and School Safety in the Post-COVID Era
Publication Date
May 20, 2025
Authors
Richard O. Welsh, Vanderbilt University; Kathryn James McGraw, Vanderbilt University
Research Areas
School Climate & Student Support; Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
A new policy brief addresses growing concerns about student behavior, educators' perceptions of that behavior, and the management of perceived misbehavior in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. These issues, already urgent before the pandemic, have intensified as schools contend with increased need, trauma, and behavioral challenges.
Review of The Enrollment Decline Windfall
Publication Date
May 8, 2025
Authors
Ben Scafidi, EdChoice; David E. DeMatthews and Jinseok Shin of the University of Texas at Austin
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
Most U.S. states continue to heavily rely on per-pupil funding models. Accordingly, projections of declining school-aged populations through 2030—combined with the rapid expansion of private school voucher policies—have raised serious concerns about the future adequacy of public school funding. A recent EdChoice report downplays these concerns.
Review of The Persistence of Religious Discrimination in Publicly Funded Pre-K Programs
Publication Date
May 1, 2025
Authors
Nicole Stelle Garnett, Tim Rosenberger, and J. Theodore Austin; Joshua Weishart, Suffolk University Law School
Research Areas
Early Childhood; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Manhattan Institute asserts that many religious pre-K providers are being unconstitutionally excluded from publicly funded education programs that remain open to other private schools. But incomplete research and methodological flaws render the report of relatively little value to policymakers or the public.
The Mounting Trouble with Education Savings Accounts
Publication Date
April 17, 2025
Authors
Samuel E. Abrams, Director of NEPC's International Partnership for the Study of Educational Privatization
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
In NEPC's new policy brief, The Mounting Trouble with Education Savings Accounts, author Samuel E. Abrams, the director of NEPC's International Partnership for the Study of Educational Privatization, examines this surge in universal ESAs. Abrams describes their origins, rapid growth, and implications for accountability, equity, public school funding, and civic life.
Review of Thousands Served: Students with Disabilities in Wisconsin’s Parental Choice Programs
Publication Date
April 8, 2025
Authors
School Choice Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty; Maria M. Lewis, Pennsylvania State University; Julie F. Mead, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
Scholars, advocates, and policymakers have long expressed the concern that many private schools receiving taxpayer subsidies through voucher programs would fail to serve children with disabilities. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, in collaboration with School Choice Wisconsin, recent published a report challenging those concerns.
Review of Fiscal Effects of School Choice: The Costs and Savings of Private School Choice Programs in America Through FY 2022
Publication Date
February 10, 2025
Authors
Martin F. Lueken; Mark Weber, Rutgers University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The expansion of voucher programs, which provide taxpayer-financed subsidies for families enrolling students in private schools, has prompted a debate about their fiscal impact. A recent EdChoice report argues that these programs do not negatively affect public school finances and actually save taxpayers substantial sums of money. Today's review explains how this argument rings hollow.
Review of Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era
Publication Date
January 28, 2025
Authors
Sofoklis Goulas; Sally A. Nuamah, Northwestern University
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Funding; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Fordham Institute report argues that post-pandemic enrollment declines will inevitably force districts to make the controversial decision to close some schools. Embracing this possibility, it provides dual criteria of substantial declines in enrollment and chronic low performance as indicators of which schools should be closed first, naming nearly 500 specific schools that meet the criteria.
Review of Searching for the Tipping Point: Scaling up Public School Choice Spurs Citywide Gains
Publication Date
December 3, 2024
Authors
Tressa Pankovits; David R. Garcia, Arizona State University
Research Areas
Charter Schools; Equity & Civil Rights; Assessment & Accountability; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Progressive Policy Institute report purports to examine the impact of charter schools on the achievement of students who remain enrolled in district-run public schools. Based on the data in the report, however, it shows only a weak relationship between the presence of charter schools and increases in achievement for all students, which contradicts the report's claims.
The Fiscal Impacts of Expanded Voucher Programs and Charter-School Growth on Public Schools: Recommendations for Sustaining Adequate and Equitable School Finance Systems
Publication Date
November 21, 2024
Authors
David S. Knight, University of Washington; David DeMatthews, University of Texas at Austin
Research Areas
Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
NEPC’s new policy brief, The Fiscal Impacts of Expanded Voucher Programs and Charter-School Growth on Public Schools: Recommendations for Sustaining Adequate and Equitable School Finance Systems, synthesizes research on the fiscal impacts of charter and voucher school policies on public school systems. Authors David S. Knight of the University of Washington and David DeMatthews of the University of Texas at Austin also discuss recent developments, including the influx of voucher policies, often promoted by large philanthropic donations and messaging campaigns.
Review of Pennsylvania's Education Tax Credit Scholarships: How EITC Serves Children and Families in the Commonwealth
Publication Date
November 12, 2024
Authors
Rachel Langan; Bruce Baker, University of Miami
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Commonwealth Foundation report praises Pennsylvania's tax credit scholarship programs, which create private-school vouchers funded through tax-credited donations. The report argues in favor of the programs' expansion, but it has at least three major shortcomings.
Review of Systemwide and Intervention-Specific Effects of Denver Public Schools' Portfolio District Strategy on Individual Student Achievement
Publication Date
November 7, 2024
Authors
Parker Baxter, Anna Nicotera, David Stuit, Margot Plotz, Todd Ely, and Paul Teske; Robert Shand, American University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado Denver attempts to assess the effect of a "portfolio district strategy" on student performance in the Denver Public Schools. As was the case with its 2022 predecessor (reviewed here), advocates for portfolio reforms have trumpeted the new study as showing that this "portfolio" package of reforms has a positive and large impact on student outcomes. The review, however, concludes that the study lacks the ability to so definitively link Denver's improved outcomes to these particular reforms.
How Can States Make School Voucher Systems More Accountable, Accessible, and Transparent?
Publication Date
October 3, 2024
Authors
Joshua Cowen and Ryan D. Nowak, Michigan State University
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
In a new NEPC policy brief, How Can States Make School Voucher Systems More Accountable, Accessible, and Transparent?, Joshua Cowen and Ryan D. Nowak of Michigan State University summarize the research evidence about vouchers and consider how existing program can be improved. They identify three areas of policy design—accountability, access, and transparency—that are especially important for student success and a good-faith use of public funding.
Review of Helping Families Navigate the Changing Education Landscape
Publication Date
September 10, 2024
Authors
Colleen Hroncich and Jamie Buckland; Huriya Jabbar, University of Southern California
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Cato Institute report describes how Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), the newest form of private-school voucher, have the potential to transform education by giving families increased options for tailoring their child's education, especially with the guidance of special consultants along the way. A review of that report, however, determines that it fails to provide useful evidence to support its conclusions and its recommendation that the cost of these "choice navigators" should be included as an eligible expense.
Strengthening Oversight of Education Savings Account (ESA) Funding for Private and At-Home Schooling
Publication Date
September 5, 2024
Authors
Luis A. Huerta and Trevor Baisden, Teachers College, Columbia University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
The school-choice landscape in the United States is undergoing a rapid transformation, as states increasingly enact a new form of vouchers called Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Unlike earlier voucher programs, which generally allowed taxpayer subsidies only for private school tuition, ESAs represent a radically expansive-and potentially very costly-vision for the private use of public funds. ESA participants receive public monies via direct deposit and can use them for various expenses, including but also well beyond private school tuition and fees. Many states, in fact, allow these funds to be used for nearly any purportedly educational expense. ESA funds are thus widely dispersed among participants and private providers but, to date, require little or no oversight or accountability.
Review of Did the Emergence of Ohio Charter Schools Help or Harm Students Who Remained in District Schools?
Publication Date
June 20, 2024
Authors
Stéphane Lavertu; Bryan Mann, University of Kansas
Research Areas
Charter Schools; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
Legislatures across the United States continue to pass policies to add or expand school choice. Within this context, the Fordham Institute, an advocate of school choice expansion, has published a report asserting that charter schools have not negatively affected students in traditional public schools. However, a review of this report finds that though it could contribute to the conversation, its conclusions are highly misleading.
Review of Spark & Sustain: How All the World's School Systems Can Improve Learning at Scale
Publication Date
June 13, 2024
Authors
Jake Bryant, Felipe Child, Ezgi Demirdag, Emma Dorn, Stephen Hall, Kartik Jayaram, Charag Krishnan, Cheryl Lim, Emmy Liss, Kemi Onabanjo, Frédéric Panier, Juan Rebolledo, Jimmy Sarakatsannis, Doug; Clara Fontdevila, University of Glasgow; Antoni Verger, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; and Adrián Zancajo, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; Technology & AI; School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
McKinsey & Company released a new global report on education that provides guidelines for policy reforms and governance strategies offered as promoting significant and sustained improvement in students’ learning outcomes. A review of the report, however, identified weaknesses likely to compromise the robustness of its conclusions.
Review of The Reality of Switchers
Publication Date
May 2, 2024
Authors
Martin F. Lueken; Joshua Cowen, Michigan State University
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A new report from the voucher-advocacy group EdChoice takes issue with the overwhelming evidence establishing that most users of vouchers under recent expansions of these policies have never attended public schools.
Review of K-12 School Choice Calculator
Publication Date
March 19, 2024
Authors
Bruce Baker, University of Miami
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A new calculator from two voucher-advocacy organizations is offered as a tool to assist state policymakers and choice advocates in providing more accurate estimates of the expenses of adopting publicly financed private-school choice (i.e., voucher) programs. But several factors suggest it should be used with caution and caveats.
Review of The Cost-Effectiveness of Wisconsin's Private School Choice Programs
Publication Date
December 12, 2023
Authors
Stephen Kotok, St. John’s University; Stephen Kotok, St. John's University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from School Choice Wisconsin claims that Wisconsin's voucher programs are highly "productive," achieving better academic outcomes at lower costs than public schools. A closer examination, however, calls into question the validity of these assertions.
Review of From Surviving to Thriving: K-12 Choice and Opportunity for Rural Texas Students and Teachers
Publication Date
December 7, 2023
Authors
Matthew Ladner and Jason Bedrick; Amanda Potterton of the University of Kentucky, Annah Rogers of the University of West Alabama, and Jeanne Powers of Arizona State University
Research Areas
Charter Schools; School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The Heritage Foundation recently published a report that claims increased competition has improved academic achievement in Arizona's rural public schools and that similar policies will be good for rural Texas. However, a review finds several flaws in the report's reasoning and methodology.
Review of Integrating Housing and Education Solutions to Reduce Segregation and Drive School Equity and When Good Parents Go to Jail: The Criminalization of Address Sharing in Public Education
Publication Date
November 14, 2023
Authors
Megan Gallagher, Rachel Lamb, Alexa Kort, and James Carter | Tim DeRoche, Hailly T.N. Korman, and Harold Hinds; Andrene J. Castro, Virginia Commonwealth University
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The first report, Integrating Housing and Education Solutions to Reduce Segregation and Drive School Equity, specifically focuses on inequitable school resources and educational outcomes tied to residential and school segregation. The second report, When Good Parents Go to Jail: The Criminalization of Address Sharing in Public Education, similarly locates school and residential boundaries as drivers of educational inequities.
Review of The 123s of School Choice: What the Research Says About Private School Choice Programs in America, 2023 Edition
Publication Date
October 12, 2023
Authors
EdChoice; Christopher Lubienski, Indiana University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The 2023 (fifth) edition of a semi-regular EdChoice report about school-choice studies is billed as an updated overview of the varied and often contested research on outcomes in voucher-like programs that provide public funding for private schools. But like earlier editions, it uses flawed methods that tally certain voucher studies finding impacts on any subgroup, even if there was no effect on most students. There is little to no accounting for the studies’ sampling, quality, generalizability, or other important factors.
Review of Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit: Economic Analysis
Publication Date
September 26, 2023
Authors
Greg S. Griffin and Lisa Kieffer; David Knight, University of Washington
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts examines the monetary costs and benefits of the state's Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit (QEEC), a voucher policy that provides a public subsidy for families to pay for private school tuition. A review of the report, however, contradicts its claim that the policy provides a net fiscal benefit to the state budget.
Review of School Choice Is Not Enough: The Impact of Critical Social Justice Ideology in American Education
Publication Date
May 2, 2023
Authors
Zach Goldberg and Eric Kaufmann; Christine Sleeter, California State University Monterey Bay; David Garcia, Arizona State University
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Manhattan Institute presents results of a survey of U.S. adults aged 18-20 to determine the extent to which eight concepts the report equates with what it calls "critical social justice" (CSJ) theory-which the report frowns upon-are taught in schools. The first of the eight concepts, for instance, is, "America is a systemically racist society."
Review of Public Education Funding Without Boundaries: How to Get K-12 Dollars to Follow Open Enrollment Students
Publication Date
April 6, 2023
Authors
Aaron Garth Smith, Christian Barnard, and Jordan Campbell; Dr. Mark Weber, Rutgers University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The Reason Foundation, a vigorous advocate for choice policies such as vouchers and charter schools, recently published a report advocating for the increased "portability" of school revenues, allowing for "money to follow the students" and, therefore, the expansion of interdistrict choice programs.
Review of The Economic Cost of the Pandemic: State by State
Publication Date
March 7, 2023
Authors
Eric A. Hanushek; Clive Belfield, Queens College, City University of New York
Research Areas
School Funding; Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability; Technology & AI
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Hoover Institution report by Eric Hanushek presents a calculation of the future learning-related economic burden resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It projects a large and persistent economic loss by using a set of assumptions about the link between reduced student achievement levels and earnings, but in doing so fails to consider several factors.
Review of K-12 Without Borders: Public School Students, Families, and Teachers Shut In by Education Boundaries
Publication Date
March 2, 2023
Authors
Martin F. Lueken and Michael Q. McShane; Christopher Lubienski, Indiana University; T. Jameson Brewer, University of North Georgia
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; Assessment & Accountability; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the directors of EdChoice, published by the Manhattan Institute, oversimplifies important equity issues as problems of school zone boundaries.
Review of The Ohio EdChoice Program’s Impact on School District Enrollments, Finances, and Academics
Publication Date
February 21, 2023
Authors
Stéphane Lavertu and John J. Gregg; Joshua Cowen, Michigan State University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding; Equity & Civil Rights; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute considers the impacts of vouchers as related to competition in Ohio public schools, increased racial segregation, and local district financial resources. It presents these three issues as the chief concerns of voucher critics and finds few harmful impacts.
Review of The System-Level Effects of Denver's Portfolio District Strategy: Technical Report
Publication Date
February 7, 2023
Authors
Parker Baxter, Anna Nicotera, Erik Fuller, Jakob Panzer, Todd Ely, and Paul Teske; Robert Shand, American University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; Governance & Public Education
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado Denver claimed that portfolio reforms in the Denver Public Schools led to substantial academic gains for students. As the report’s lead author told the Denver Post, "This study makes clear that the reforms helped students and strengthened the district." A review of the report concludes, however, that claims attributing those gains specifically to the portfolio reforms are not valid. The report analyzes changes in academic performance as measured by test scores and graduation rates versus comparable schools in Colorado over 11 years of the district’s experimenting with the “portfolio” approach to school district management. The portfolio approach includes central-office oversight of different school types (such as charter schools, innovation schools, and district-run schools), with widespread parental choice under a single enrollment system. The model looks to choice, competition, and accountability to drive gains in student performance.
Review of Empowering Parents with School Choice Reduces Wokeism in Education
Publication Date
January 24, 2023
Authors
Jay P. Greene and Ian S. Kingsbury; Christine Sleeter, California State University Monterey Bay; and T. Jameson Brewer, University of North Georgia
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
In one of the more unusual reports NEPC has ever reviewed, Heritage Foundation authors recently argued for school-choice deregulation by comparing the amount of "wokeness" terminology in parent/student handbooks in U.S. charter schools with the level of charter school regulation in their states. The Heritage report finds that increased manifestations of "woke" terminology are associated with higher state levels of charter school regulation. On this basis, the report concludes that while charter schools represent a safe space away from "woke indoctrination" in public schools, further deregulation and less bureaucracy will allow the charter sector to truly respond to parent desires to avoid "leftist" curriculum.
Review of For-Profit Charter Schools: An Evaluation of Their Spending and Outcomes
Publication Date
December 1, 2022
Authors
Stéphane Lavertu and Long Tran; Joshua Cowen, Michigan State University
Research Areas
School Funding; School Choice & Vouchers; Technology & AI
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute examines academic outcomes in Ohio’s nonprofit and for-profit charter schools. It also explores whether differences in contracted services in for-profits appear to correlate with differences in their outcomes.
Review of #StudentsFirst: Empowering Parents to Help Students Regain Lost Learning
Publication Date
November 22, 2022
Authors
Greg R. Lawson; David S. Knight, University of Washington
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A new Buckeye Institute report recommends sweeping K-12 policy reforms in response to COVID-19 academic disruptions and what the report asserts to be declining confidence in public schools. However, a review of the report criticizes the analysis and cautions against its policy recommendations.
Review of Some Assembly Required: How a More Flexible Learning Ecosystem Can Better Serve All Kids and Unlock Innovation
Publication Date
November 8, 2022
Authors
Juliet Squire and Alex Spurrier; Carrie Sampson, Arizona State University
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A report from Bellwether details what its authors call "assembly-based education," a concept described as a hypothetical ecosystem that removes schools as a central education component. A review of the report exposes this concept as unworkable outside of a miraculous private marketplace, and thus a shortsighted attempt to invalidate public schools.
Pandemic Educational Models Remain Unproven
Publication Date
October 18, 2022
Authors
Christopher Doss, Elizabeth Steiner, Bryan C. Hassel; Bryan Mann of the University of Kansas
Research Areas
Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; Technology & AI
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
In response to unsafe conditions and school closures, families across the U.S. experimented early in the COVID-19 pandemic with new educational models. Two recent publications from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) describe two related strategies that exemplify such experimentation: microschools and learning pods. However, a review recommends that neither report should be used to guide policy and practice.
Review of Michigan Student Opportunity Scholarships: Overview and Fiscal Analysis
Publication Date
July 14, 2022
Authors
Ben DeGrow, Martin Lueken; Christopher Saldaña, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Mackinac Center report claims that the proposed Michigan Student Opportunity Scholarship (MSOS) neovoucher program has the potential to create fiscal benefits for the state of Michigan and its school districts.
Review of Fiscal Effects of School Choice: Analyzing the Costs and Savings of Private School Choice Programs in America
Publication Date
March 15, 2022
Authors
Martin Lueken; Luis A. Huerta and Steven Koutsavlis, Teachers College, Columbia University
Research Areas
Charter Schools; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from EdChoice argues for expansion of policies that publicly fund private schools, contending that private schools could provide equal or better outcomes at lesser cost.
Review of Accountability and Private-School Choice
Publication Date
November 15, 2021
Authors
Nicole Stelle Garnett; Jack Schneider, University of Massachusetts Lowel
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Manhattan Institute addresses the question of how private school voucher programs should be regulated, asking the important question of what accountability mechanisms will safeguard taxpayer dollars if private schools are to receive public funds.
Review of Education Savings Accounts: How ESAs Can Promote Educational Freedom for New York Families
Publication Date
November 9, 2021
Authors
Martin F. Lueken; Bruce Baker, Rutgers University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Manhattan Institute promotes Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) by presenting a scenario whereby taxpayer expense would fall if the program motivated families to move children from public schools funded by the state to private schools funded primarily by families.
Education Freedom and Student Achievement: Is More School Choice Associated with Higher State-Level Performance on the NAEP?
Publication Date
June 15, 2021
Authors
Patrick J. Wolf, Jay P. Greene, Matthew Ladner, and James D. Paul; T. Jameson Brewer, University of North Georgia; Joel Malin, Miami University
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent brief from the School Choice Demonstration Project at the University of Arkansas is being used by voucher advocates to argue that increasing school choice can spur broad test score improvements.
Estimating a Price Tag for School Vouchers
Publication Date
May 24, 2021
Authors
Robert Shand, American University; Henry Levin of Teachers College, Columbia University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
Brief considers the public cost of a universal voucher system, with its attendant requirements for new systems of governance, information, transportation, and accreditation.
Review of Toward Equitable School Choice
Publication Date
February 4, 2021
Authors
Paul E. Peterson; Christopher Lubienski, Indiana University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A new report from the Hoover Institution’s Education Success Initiative purports to offer evidence-based guidance for policymakers in shaping more equitable outcomes from school choice programs.
Review of Religious Charter Schools: Legally Permissible? Constitutionally Required?
Publication Date
January 26, 2021
Authors
Nicole Stelle Garnett; Derek Black, University of South Carolina School of Law
Research Areas
Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The Manhattan Institute recently published a report concluding that the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue requires states to grant charters to religious organizations, including those that intend to deliver an explicitly religious curriculum that teaches religion as truth.
Review of The Third Way: A Guide to Implementing Innovation Schools
Publication Date
January 21, 2021
Authors
Tressa Pankovits, David Osbourne; Carrie Sampson, Arizona State University; Sarah Diem, University of Missouri
Research Areas
Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; Technology & AI; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The Progressive Policy Institute recently published a "how-to" guide for entities such as charter management companies that seek to develop innovation schools in urban communities.
Review of Unleashing Educational Opportunity: The Untapped Potential of Expanded Tax Credit Scholarships
Publication Date
October 22, 2020
Authors
Corey DeAngelis; Bruce Baker, Rutgers University
Research Areas
Charter Schools; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A Commonwealth Foundation report argues that expanding a program that uses tax credits to create vouchers for private schooling can lead to large economic gains for the state of Pennsylvania. Such gains would result from two purported benefits: increased lifetime earnings for those attending private schools on vouchers, and reduced social costs associated with crime.
Big Claims, Little Evidence, Lots of Money: The Reality Behind the Summit Learning Program and the Push to Adopt Digital Personalized Learning Programs
Publication Date
June 25, 2020
Authors
Faith Boninger, Alex Molnar, and Christopher Saldaña, University of Colorado Boulder
Research Areas
Assessment & Accountability; School Choice & Vouchers; Technology & AI
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
Despite a lack of evidence that it is effective, the Summit Learning Program, propelled by a flood of Silicon Valley money, continues to spread.
Review of Comparing Ed Reforms: Assessing the Experimental Research on Nine K-12 Education Reforms
Publication Date
May 26, 2020
Authors
Paul DiPerna; Bruce D. Baker, Rutgers University
Research Areas
Charter Schools; Equity & Civil Rights; Assessment & Accountability; Early Childhood; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from EdChoice, working with Hanover Research, identifies and reviews studies that use Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) to determine student achievement or educational attainment outcomes of nine broad "education reform" areas.
Review of Child Safety Accounts: Protecting Our Children through Parental Freedom
Publication Date
March 31, 2020
Authors
Vicki Alger and Timothy Benson; Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos and Gabriella Garriga of Trinity University
Research Areas
School Climate & Student Support; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Heartland Institute report argues for Child Safety Account (CSA) programs that would enable parents to access taxpayer dollars by asserting that their child feels unsafe in school. The CSA money could be used by the parents to transfer the child to another school, be it public, private, magnet, charter, or homeschool.
Review: Ripple Effect: How Expanding School Choice Programs Can Lead to More College Graduates and a Stronger Economy
Publication Date
March 10, 2020
Authors
WILL FLANDERS, PHD; William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder
Research Areas
Charter Schools; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The report presumes a causal chain of: raising the voucher cap from four percent to 20% → more voucher students in K-12 schools → higher graduation rates from college → higher lifetime earnings → more consumer spending → increased state and local taxes collected. The resulting benefits to Wisconsin are asserted to be $3.2 billion over 20 years. The final three steps are based on solid research, although the specific numbers are in some dispute. That is, when students graduate from college, they will have higher average incomes and will spend more, and pay more taxes, over their lifetimes. The numbers get complicated, however, when we start to consider factors like job market opportunities that can accommodate the increased percentage of college graduates.
Investing for “Impact” or Investing for Profit? Social Impact Bonds, Pay for Success, and the Next Wave of Privatization of Social Services
Publication Date
February 4, 2020
Authors
Martin Carnoy, Stanford University; Roxana Marachi, San José State University
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; School Climate & Student Support; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
Is there a role for private investors in public social policy? In the past decade, we have seen the rise of new financial structures entering the social services arena, with corresponding legislation now poised to change how social services are delivered and who delivers them. While different programs use different terms—including, for example, Pay for Success or Results-Based Financing—the umbrella term encompassing these new financing models is the "Social Impact Bond" (SIB).
School Choice Advocacy Report Plays Regression Modeling Games to Make Its Case Against Public Schools
Publication Date
January 21, 2020
Authors
Corey A. DeAngelis; Steven V. Miller, Clemson University
Research Areas
Charter Schools; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report jointly published by the Reason Foundation and Cato Institute argues that private and charter schools have a strong positive effect on parents’ reported satisfaction with their children's education.
Report about Homeschooling Overreaches on Claims
Publication Date
November 7, 2019
Authors
Kerry MacDonald; Robert Kunzman, Indiana University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The Cato Institute recently released a report arguing that homeschoolers should support school choice proposals because greater educational freedom empowers parents to provide richer learning opportunities for their children.
Report Advocates Privatizing Schools Overseas, but Without Convincing Evidence
Publication Date
October 31, 2019
Authors
Katelyn Donnelly, Arvind Nagarajan, and Ross Lescano Lipstein; Frank Adamson, California State University, Sacramento
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A new report, Beyond the Mirage: How Pragmatic Stewardship Could Transform Learning Outcomes in International Education Systems, prescribes a shift in the leadership role of education ministers - from providers and guarantors of education to pragmatic stewards of education systems. Focusing on the organization of education sectors in the Global South, the report contends that this shift from "provider" to "steward" will address the need for higher quality education, rather than simply providing access to education. The "pragmatic stewardship" advocated in the report involves strategies that increasingly incorporate private actors. Accordingly, the report draws on four case studies of different types of private-sector involvement in education as examples of a recommended broader shift by education ministers.
Manhattan Institute Report Fails to Muster Solid Evidence to Support Vouchers
Publication Date
October 22, 2019
Authors
Ashley Rogers Berner, Johns Hopkins University; Joel Westheimer, University of Ottawa
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Manhattan Institute report argues that the idea of what constitutes a "public" school should be expanded to include private schools that receive public funding. The report also contends that public funding for education should in fact be divided between traditional district public schools, charter schools, and private schools, with funding decisions based on student enrollment. Expansion of funding, it concludes, will result in greater choice for all students and will improve the quality of education.
The Effects of Means Tested Private School Choice Programs on College Enrollment and Graduation
Publication Date
October 16, 2019
Authors
T. Jameson Brewer, University of North Georgia
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent Urban Institute report brings together certain findings from studies of three school voucher programs. The report concludes that students using vouchers to attend private schools sometimes have higher rates of college enrollment and completion than their public school counterparts.
The 123s of School Choice: What the Research Says About Private School Choice: 2019 Edition
Publication Date
June 11, 2019
Authors
Andrew Catt, Paul DiPerna, Martin Lueken, Michael McShane, and Michael Shaw; T. Jameson Brewer, of the University of North Georgia
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from EdChoice presents itself as a yearly updated list and synthesis of empirical studies exploring the impacts of school vouchers across a set of outcomes. But a new review of the report finds that it fails to provide a robust summary of the research literature on vouchers and their full range of positive and negative impacts.
12 Myths and Realities about Private Educational Choice Programs
Publication Date
March 7, 2019
Authors
Tim Keller; Christopher Lubienski Indiana University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
Setting out 12, often cartoonishly caricatured, "myths" about vouchers, the report proceeds to systematically dismiss each myth. The evidence presented in the report is based largely on previous work from other advocacy groups that curated evidence—much of it highly questionable—on the advantages of vouchers. Accordingly, the IJ report repeats earlier advocacy claims, even when flaws in those works have already been publicly explained. In doing so, the report makes claims that are not supported, and in fact sometimes contradicted, by evidence in the sources it cites.
Why Indiana Parents Choose: A Cross-sector Survey of Parents’ views in a Robust School Choice Environment
Publication Date
November 21, 2017
Authors
Andrew D. Catt and Evan Rhinesmith; Jeanne M. Powers, Arizona State University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report published by EdChoice attempted to examine parents’ experiences with school choice in Indiana through a survey. Hanover Research compiled the survey results with the report authored by staff at EdChoice, an advocacy organization that favors school choice. Based on the survey, the report claimed that parents were highly satisfied with voucher and tax credit scholarship programs. Moreover, the report suggested that the findings support the expansion of school choice programs.
Assessing the Fiscal Impact of Wisconsin’s Statewide Voucher Program
Publication Date
October 5, 2017
Authors
Ellie Bruecker, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
A peer-reviewed policy memo produced by the National Education Policy Center for the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice explores the financial effects of Wisconsin’s expanded statewide Parental Choice Program (WPCP). The memo describes how the voucher program alters the relative share of public education spending borne by the state and by local districts and estimates the differential impact of the program on Wisconsin school districts. The author, Ellie Bruecker, University of Wisconsin-Madison, finds that the program will likely exacerbate school funding inequities for public schools in Wisconsin.
The Tax-Credit Scholarship Audit: Do Publicly Funded Private School Choice Programs Save Money?
Publication Date
August 24, 2017
Authors
Martin F. Lueken; Luis A. Huerta and Steven Koutsavlis, Teachers College, Columbia University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A 2016 report from EdChoice asserted that tax credit scholarship programs through Scholarship Tuition Organizations (STOs) have saved state treasuries billions of dollars since 1998. Twenty-one programs in 17 states now distribute scholarships to students via STO tax credit programs sometimes called “neovouchers.” The programs allow individuals and corporations to contribute to a nonprofit organization that distributes the money in the form of scholarships. According to the authors of the report, states can save money as a result of students leaving public schools and entering private schools.
Renewing our Cities: A Case Study on School Choice’s Role in Urban Renewal / CPR Scholarships: Using Private School Choice to Attack Concentrated Poverty, Crime, and Unemployment
Publication Date
June 20, 2017
Authors
David Harrison, and Jing Zhao, Bartley Danielsen, David Harrison, and Jing Zhao; Jennifer Jellison Holme and Emily Germain, University of Texas Austin
Research Areas
Assessment & Accountability; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
EdChoice and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) released reports suggesting that expanded school choice would promote economic development in economically distressed urban areas. The EdChoice report was a case study on the relocation decisions of families in an urban charter school, while the AEI report calls for a voucher-like program to spur economic development by luring higher income families into neighborhoods. While the EdChoice report is an empirical paper, the AEI report only consists of a hypothetical proposal for a voucher program aimed at promoting economic development in high-poverty neighborhoods.
A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice / The Participant Effects of Private School Vouchers across the Globe: A Meta-Analytic and Systematic Review
Publication Date
June 30, 2016
Authors
M. Danish Shakeel, Kaitlin P. Anderson, & Patrick J. Wolf; Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
Two reports claimed to offer empirical support of the effectiveness of school vouchers. The reviewed reports include: A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice; and The Participant Effects of Private School Vouchers across the Globe: A Meta-Analytic and Systematic Review from the Department of Education Reform (DER) at the University of Arkansas. The reports focused on randomized studies of the effects of school vouchers on educational outcomes, concluding that school vouchers have positive effects.
The School Choice Voucher: A “Get Out of Jail” Card?
Publication Date
April 6, 2016
Authors
Corey DeAngelis and Patrick J. Wolf; Clive Belfield, Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY)
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The authors of the working paper used data from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) to compare crimes processed through the Wisconsin courts for program participants and a matched sample of students. Although most of these comparisons showed no association, the report finds that some subgroups of MPCP students were less likely to commit crimes as adults.
Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – Do Choice Policies Segregate Schools?
Publication Date
March 31, 2016
Authors
William Mathis and Kevin Welner, University of Colorado Boulder
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
Despite advocates advancing the notion that integration can be promoted by increased school choice, a new brief considers the research evidence of those policies. The concise brief concludes that while choice policies may be designed and implemented in ways intended to advance integration; the result has been increased stratification. The National Education Policy Center published the brief with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.
Better Data, Better Decisions: Informing School Choosers to Improve Education Markets and A Crisis We Can Solve: Connecticut’s Failing Schools and Their Impact
Publication Date
January 5, 2015
Authors
John Valant; Erin McNamara Horvat, Temple University; and David Everington Baugh, Bensalem Township School District, Pennsylvania
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report, published by AEI, asserts that choice is seen as a mechanism, and at times a panacea, for better educational quality. The report provides an overview of what families want from schools, where they get information on schools, and how they use information to make decisions. The report concludes that informed choice and the power of the market will produce better educational outcomes. The ConnCAN report makes a case that there is a desperate need to improve school quality in Connecticut’s neediest neighborhoods and promotes charter schools as the best and perhaps only method for increasing the number of high-quality educational seats in Connecticut.
New York City's Children First: Lessons in School Reform
Publication Date
June 3, 2014
Authors
Maureen Kelleher; Randal Reback, Barnard College
Research Areas
Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; Teacher Workforce
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
A recent report from the Center for American Progress summarizes and evaluates the public education reforms during the Bloomberg mayoral era in NYC. The report suggests that positive change resulted from the Children First reforms and makes several policy recommendations. The report describes four aspects of reform during the Bloomberg era, and makes recommendations for NYC and other urban districts. It focuses on top-down school reforms from the mayor's office, rather than on instructional changes inside classrooms.
Pluck & Tenacity: How Five Private Schools in Ohio Have Adapted to Vouchers
Publication Date
March 6, 2014
Authors
Ellen Belcher; Christopher Lubienski and T. Jameson Brewer, University of Illinois
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report highlights perceived challenges facing private schools brought on by the introduction of vouchers and calls for policymakers to strengthen Ohio's voucher programs. It praises the private schools profiled and cautions against state accountability programs that may "trample" on private schools' ability to provide a unique learning experience.
School Choice and School Performance in the New York City Public Schools: Will the Past be Prologue?
Publication Date
November 19, 2013
Authors
Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst and Sarah Whitfield; Patricia Burch, University of Southern California
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
Whitehurst and Whitfield attempt to use aggregate findings to make the case that expansion of school choice and school competition in NYC schools is a major factor in increased graduation rates and enhanced performance on state tests of academic achievement. The authors’ recommendations also include calls for more general improvements in instruction, teacher quality, and accountability systems.
The Education Choice and Competition Index: Background and Results 2012
Publication Date
January 29, 2013
Authors
David Garcia, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report from the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution attempts to make a connection between parental satisfaction for schools and the purported collective benefits arising from market-based education polices. It includes an index which grades school districts using 13 categories, including the percentage of students enrolled in alternative schools other than traditional public schools. A review found weaknesses in the index’s subjective scoring system, as well as a lack of research behind the report’s recommendations, making the Brookings’ product fall short of being an effective policy tool.
Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking—Public Funding of School Choice
Publication Date
December 13, 2012
Authors
William Mathis, University of Colorado-Boulder
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
Dr. William Mathis, managing director of the National Education Policy Center, summarizes current relevant findings in education policy research and describes important issues and questions policymakers should consider in determining public funding of alternatives to conventional public schools. This three-page brief is part of Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking, a multipart brief that takes up a number of important policy issues and identifies policies supported by research.
The Effects of School Vouchers on College Enrollment: Experimental Evidence from New York City
Publication Date
September 13, 2012
Authors
Sara Goldrick-Rab, The University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
Jointly released with the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University, this report examines college enrollment rates of students participating in an experimental voucher program in New York City.
Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Final Reports No. 29, 30 & 32
Publication Date
April 19, 2012
Authors
Casey Cobb, University of Connecticut
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The three reports are among more than 30 produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project, which has conducted a five-year longitudinal growth study of the Milwaukee voucher program.
The Comprehensive Longitudinal Evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Summary of Fourth Year Reports
Publication Date
June 2, 2011
Authors
Clive Belfield, Queens College, City University of New York
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report summarizes the SCDP's own earlier research on the Milwaukee voucher program.
An Analysis of Arizona Individual Income Tax-credit Scholarship Recipient's Family Income, 2009-10
Publication Date
November 18, 2010
Authors
Casey D. Cobb, University of Connecticut
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report attempts to counter claims made by two AZ newspapers that the state's tuition tax credit voucher program has failed to increase private school access for low-income families.
Urban School Decentralization and the Growth of "Portfolio Districts:"
Publication Date
June 2, 2010
Authors
Kenneth J. Saltman, DePaul University
Research Areas
Assessment & Accountability; Charter Schools; School Choice & Vouchers; Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
This policy brief focuses on the portfolio approach to school reform being used in an increasing number of large urban districts including New York, Chicago, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. This approach has been promoted by education reform theorists and some in the Obama administration as a vital and necessary solution to the problems, especially, of urban districts despite the fact that it has unclear advantages, no proof of past success and known high costs.
Graduation Rates for Choice and Public School Students in Milwaukee, 2003-2008
Publication Date
March 31, 2010
Authors
Casey D. Cobb, University of Connecticut
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
Cobb's review of this report praises it for its technically sound analysis and results that are descriptively useful. However, Cobb cautions that any real claims about whether the voucher program is actually causing higher graduation rates must depend upon a much stronger research design.
America's Private Public Schools
Publication Date
March 24, 2010
Authors
John T. Yun, University of California, Santa Barbara
Research Areas
Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report identifies public schools across the U.S. that enroll very few students from low-income families (private public schools) and argues that the existence of these "exclusive" schools justifies the support of publicly funded vouchers to private schools.
How School Choice Can Create Jobs for South Carolina
Publication Date
January 14, 2010
Authors
Joydeep Roy, Georgetown University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report argues that school choice, in the form of vouchers to attend private schools, would create significant job opportunities in five poor, rural counties in South Carolina.
Private Schooling in the U.S.: Expenditures, Supply, and Policy Implications
Publication Date
August 18, 2009
Authors
Bruce D. Baker Rutgers University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
This policy brief makes the case for schools across the country to put an end to policies that cast off students into unchallenging, low-track classrooms. The authors recommend a clear process for the phasing out of curricular stratification in grades K-10, beginning with the lowest track and granting meaningful access to AP and IB courses to all students. The brief includes model statutory language to implement its recommendations.
Private Schooling in the U.S.: Expenditures, Supply, and Policy Implications
Publication Date
August 18, 2009
Authors
Bruce D. Baker Rutgers University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Policy Brief
Summary
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The Fiscal Impact of Tax-Credit Scholarships in Montana The Fiscal Impact of Tax-Credit Scholarships in Georgia The Fiscal Impact of a Corporate & Individual Tax-Credit Scholarship Program on the State of Indiana
Publication Date
June 22, 2009
Authors
Luis Huerta, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The Friedman reports which focus on Georgia, Montana and Indiana purport to demonstrate that programs awarding tax-credits to donors funding private school vouchers will reduce government expenditures and make the finance system more efficient. In his review, Huerta finds the reports' conclusions highly suspect and sharply criticizes them for presenting unsubstantiated claims and failing to adequately consider short- and long-term costs of such tax-credit programs.
Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After Three Years
Publication Date
May 21, 2009
Authors
Martin Carnoy, Stanford University
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
The report finds that after three years, students in the D.C. voucher program showed modestly higher reading scores, but no significant difference in math scores when compared with a control group of students who didn’t get vouchers.
A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on How Vouchers Affect Public Schools
Publication Date
April 27, 2009
Authors
Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report purports to present a summary of previous research about the competitive effect of vouchers on public schools. The report concludes that such competition improves public schools.
The Fiscal Impact of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: 2009 Update
Publication Date
April 27, 2009
Authors
Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report examines issues concerning the funding formula used for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and finds that it generates a net savings to taxpayers in Wisconsin but imposes a large fiscal burden on taxpayers in Milwaukee.
When Private Schools Take Public Dollars: What’s the Place of Accountability in School Voucher Programs?
Publication Date
April 15, 2009
Authors
Ernest House, University of Colorado at Boulder
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report examines the opinions of experts who are school choice advocates regarding accountability issues for private schools that accept public monies (vouchers).
Reports on 10 state public opinion surveys on K-12 school choice
Publication Date
December 2, 2008
Authors
Jon Lorence and A. Gary Dworkin, University of Houston
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This is a series of reports based on public opinion polls in 10 states that claim that voters view public schools as unsatisfactory, that they prefer private over public schools, that vouchers should be available and that potential voters are more likely to support candidates who support school choice proposals.
Promising Start: An Empirical Analysis of How EdChoice Vouchers Affect Ohio Public Schools
Publication Date
September 8, 2008
Authors
Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report makes the claim that Ohio's EdChoice voucher program has increased the effectiveness of public schools. The report indicates that substantial academic gains at public schools have been made because these schools have been exposed to the possibility of losing students to vouchers.
The Effect of Special Education Vouchers on Public School Achievement: Evidence from Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program
Publication Date
May 22, 2008
Authors
John T. Yun, University of California at Santa Barbara
Research Areas
School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability
Publication Type
Think Twice
Summary
This report claims that Florida’s McKay program of providing private-school vouchers to special education students has resulted in improved educational outcomes for special education students who chose to stay in public schools. The theory behind this conclusion is that increased competition to enroll these students has led public schools to improve services and programs for special education students not choosing to leave.
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