A Think Twice Review of:

The Effect of Special Education Vouchers on Public School Achievement: Evidence from Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program

Think Twice - May 22, 2008

Publisher/Think Tank - Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

Author(s) -

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.

Reviewer(s) - John T. Yun, University of California at Santa Barbara

Yun concludes that any possible contribution made by this report is outweighed by research design problems, failure to take into account alternative explanations, and possible selection bias. He cautions against using this report for any decision-making or policy evaluation purposes.