A Think Twice Review of:

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

Think Twice - Jun 30, 2016

Publisher/Think Tank - Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

Author(s) - M. Danish Shakeel, Kaitlin P. Anderson, & Patrick J. Wolf

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.

Reviewer(s) - Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

An academic review released today finds the reports have serious problems and errors. Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, reviewed both reports for the Think Twice think tank review project. Lubienski concludes: “Both reports are marred by a number of serious problems and errors, including misrepresentations of the research literature, a failure to acknowledge the limitations of their approaches, not addressing the shortcomings of the theoretical underpinnings of vouchers, and the use of methods that bias the selections of the studies they utilize.” He adds, “Together, their manifold serious flaws undercut the trustworthiness and usefulness of these reports.”