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Peaks and Valleys: Colorado's Charter School Landscape
Progressive Policy Institute
Todd Ziebarth
December 2005

The Progressive Policy Institute's Todd Ziebarth reports, "On the whole, Colorado's charters outperform non-charter public schools at the elementary and middle school levels." However Ziebarth also reports that progress must still be made at the high school level. Peaks and Valleys analyzes the challenges Colorado charter schools face in the immediate future in order to provide good educational options for all students.

Hopes, Fears, and Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2005
National Charter School Research Project
Robin J. Lake and Paul T. Hill, eds.
November 2005

Researchers Robin J. Lake and Paul T. Hill review the charter school "dustup" of 2004 and 2005 as competing studies jousted over the effectiveness of charter schools. These researchers also review the state of the charter school movement and evaluate its momentum.

School Performance in Ohio's Inner Cities: Comparing Charter and District School Results in 2005
Allison Porch, Kristina Phillips-Schwartz, and Terry Ryan

Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
October 2005

Using data from the 2005 Ohio School Report Card, this study makes an "apples to apples" comparison of charter schools and traditional public schools in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Dayton, Ohio. The authors find that charter school performance in these districts varies so widely that observers will gain little form generalizing about schools' peformance statewide, though, "in some cases, charters are outperforming similar district schools."

School Choice Issues in Depth
Greg Forster, Ph.D.
Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation
October 2005

This report from the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation says school choice programs are only good for parents and children if they can actually help parents choose the best school for their child. Greg Forster, Ph.D. looks at choice programs across the country and evaluates how easy the programs are for parents to use.

Playing to Type?
Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Dick Carpenter
October 6, 2005

This study from the Fordham Institute establishes a "typology" of charter schools, providing a categorization process to be used by researchers in order to better compare achievement among different types of charter schools.

Saving Money and Improving Education: How School Choice Can Help States Reduce Education Costs
David Salisbury
The Cato Institute
October 4, 2005

Cato expert David Salisbury uses a comprehensive and clear analysis to explain how existing choice programs make "fiscal sense." His results suggest that school choice programs could help to slow the rate of growth of local and state spending on education.

Capital Campaign: Early Returns on District of Columbia Charters
Sara Mead
Progressive Policy Institute
October 4, 2005

Sara Mead of PPI explains that the Nation's Capital has some of the best and worst charter schools in the country. She says charters in the District face many of the same managerial and facility-related problems faced by charters across the U.S. Upon further inspection, Mead reports that the charter school movement in the District is "strong" and District leaders should "continue to strengthen the movement."

Charter School Quality and Parental Decision Making with School Choice
Eric A. Hanushek, John F. Kain, Steven G. Rivkin, and Gregory F. Branch
March 2005

This study looks at Texas charter schools from 1996 to 2002 (ethnicity, enrollment, growth in size, student family income exit rates, and test results). The results of the analysis show that when they open, charter schools are a step behind public schools but "within two or three years...are as effective as traditional public schools on average in terms of value added to reading and mathematics achievement."

Providing Quality Choice Options in Education
National Governors Association

September 2005

With increasing numbers of students attending schools other than their assigned public school, the need for quality educational options has increased. This NGA report answers questions such as, "What policies promote educational choice?" and, "How can choice programs help achieve state education goals?"

Nine Lies About School Choice: Answering the Critics
Center for Education Reform
September 2, 2005

Thirteen years after publishing the first "Nine Lies," CER releases this revised version. Included are responses to school choice opponents' claims against school choice--such as the claim that choice programs take only the "cream" (or best students) from public schools or that choice programs violate constitutional provisions against the use of public dollars for religious purposes.

Charter School Funding: Inequity's Next Frontier
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

August 2005

This study reviews how charter schools are funded in comparison to traditional public schools. The Fordham Institute reports that, in some states, charters receive 40% less funding than traditional schools. The report provides state and city information on the funding gap between charter schools and traditional schools.

Charter School Achievement: What We Know
Bryan C. Hassel
Charter School Leadership Council
July 2005

An update of the report issued earlier in the year, researcher Bryan C. Hassel reviews 44 studies on charter schools and analyzes the results. He finds that the quality of charter school research varies; results are "mixed and of limited use"; and the results of the studies that look at change over time in charter school achievement are encouragement.

Contract Schools Bring Innovative New Choices to Denver Public Schools
Marya DeGrow
Independence Institute
June 29, 2005

Similar to charter schools but not subject to the state's charter law, several independent organizations have created "contract" schools with the Denver Public School system. Marya DeGrow examines the unique opportunities the schools offer to parents.

Debunking the Real Estate Risk of Charter Schools
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
2005

This study from the Kauffman Foundation reveals that much of the wariness regarding charter schools results from misleading statistics concerning school closings and their remarket value. Also, the study identified several factors that reduce the risk of school closings: beginning schools with Education Management Organizations, increasing the number of students, and starting the school one year or more after the state passes the charter law.

Parental Choice as an Education Reform Catalyst: Global Lessons
John Merrifield
Education Forum
June 2005

The ultimate goal of school choice programs, John Merrifield maintains, is for all families to have a “diverse menu of autonomous schooling options." However, Merrifield argues that the ultimate goal is far from being met. He suggests that many parents around the world do not know these programs are available, and in areas where school choice is available, the degree of choice is significantly limited. 

Chasing the Blues Away: Charter Schools Scale Up in Chicago
Robin J. Lake and Lydia Rainey
Progressive Policy Institute
June 1, 2005

In this study, the authors found that all elementary Chicago charter schools outperformed the schools their students would have attended, as measured by results on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, and all but one Chicago charter high school outperformed the schools their students would have attended. The authors conclude that though it may be challenging, there is more than enough capacity in Chicago to make Mayor Richard Daley's "Renaissance 10" initiative, which intends to dramatically increase the number of charter schools in the city in the next five years, a "historic success."

Antecedents and Consequences of Residential Choice and School Transfer

Toni Falbo, Robert W. Glover, W. Lee Holcombe, and S. Lynne Stokes
May 2, 2005

This studied reviewed the transfer policies and demographics of eight large Texas school districts. The researchers found that "the results provide some support for the view that residential choice is related to enhanced achievement and satisfaction." In addition, "Parents' motivation to move their children to another school was greater when they perceived the school as less receptive to their involvement and their children as less successful in school."

How Are California's Charter Schools Performing?

EdSource
May 2005

EdSource's review of California's charter schools finds "notable" improvement toward meeting academic growth targets. The study found that "California’s classroom-based charter schools were 33 percent more likely to meet student performance goals in 2004 than were regular public schools."

State of the Charter Movement 2005
Gregg Vanourek
Charter School Leadership Council
May 2005

This review of the charter school movement finds that today, even with 3,500 charters operating around the country, a large contingent of the general public does not understand what a charter school is. In addition, more research is needed on charter school student achievement, how charters are affecting their district, and different methods of keeping charters accountable.

Competition in the Public Schools: The Market is the Answer
Neal McCluskey, Education Policy Analyst
Cato Institute
April 20, 2005

Something needs to be done about the corruption that exists in public schools. Cato analyst Neal McCluskey examines the benefits of accountability through school choice by outlining the bureaucracy in current methods of educational accountability and the benefits of a market approach.

Choosing a School for Your Child
U.S. Department of Education
April 2005

Moving to a “good” school district used to be a family’s only option in order to ensure acccess to a quality education for their children. Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), however, parents have more choices. This booklet describes the school choice options parents have under NCLB and lists the different types of public schools (community, charter, magnet, virtual, and Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate programs) and nonpublic schools (religious and secular private schools and home schools) from which parents can choose. The booklet is also a workbook designed to help parents choose a school that will best suit their child by identifying the child’s needs and learning style and providing parents with questions to ask (or at least consider) about an individual school’s location, curriculum, approach to learning, academic performance, behavior policy, facilities, services, extracurricular activities, and safety.

Texas Open-Enrollment Charter Schools: 2003-2004 Evaluation
Texas Center for Educational Research
February 2005

This study examines Texas charter schools, including their contextual background, general characteristics, revenues and expenditures, surveys of directors, teachers, and students, and student performance. The evaluation shows varied results among the schools with generally high student satisfaction but mixed student performance. Ultimately, the article concludes that charter schools' categorization "as alternative education programs remains uncertain."

Texas Roundup: Charter Schooling in the Lone Star State
Nelson Smith
Progressive Policy Institute

There are heroes and villians in the world of charter schooling--those who operate ambitious, nurturing schools and those who do not. This report surveys the charter school landscape in Texas and offers proposals on how to provide effective oversight and adequate resources to charters in the Lone Star State.

A Tough Nut to Crack in Ohio: Charter Schooling in the Buckeye State
Alexander Russo
Progressive Policy Institute

Ohio ranks sixth in the nation in number of charter schools operating. Yet Progressive Policy Institute researcher Alexander Russo finds that "Ohio's charter schoosl are in a fragile state of transition" based on the policy climate in the state, and he offers recommendations for reform including strengthening accountability.

Charter School Acheivement: What We Know
Prepared by Bryan C. Hassel, Public Impact
Made available by the Charter School Leadership Council
January 31, 2005

As the charter school movement has matured, more and more data has been collected on programs around the country and an increasing number of analyses have been conducted using this data. In this study, Bryan C. Hassel reviews 38 studies published after 2000, evaluating the "central findings and methodological strengths and weaknesses" of each study.

NAEP Charter School Pilot Study
National Center for Education Statistics
December 2004

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessed charter school students in reading and math in this pilot study. There was no measureable difference between charter students and traditional public school students in reading, and in mathematics, there was no measureable difference among White, Black, and Hispanic charter students and their corresponding peers in similar ethnic groups in traditional public schools. 

Achievement in Charter Schools and Regular Public Schools in the United States: Understanding the Differences
Harvard University and The National Bureau of Economic Research
Caroline Hoxby
December 2004

Harvard scholar Caroline Hoxby's latest research on charter schools finds very encouraging news for students and parents. Her report included data from nearly 99 percent of elementary charter school students and found that when compared to peers at the traditional public school that charter students would have been most likely to attend, charter students are 5.2 percent more likely to be proficient in reading and 3.2 percent more likely to be proficient in math on state tests.

Education Needs to Provide Additional Technical Assistance and Conduct Implementation Studies for School Choice Provision
GAO
December 2004

This report from the GAO reviews the first two years of school choice under No Child Left Behind. The report finds that only 1 percent of eligible students took advantage of their school transfer options under NCLB. Among the report's recommendations are those to provide more help to states in the area of informing parents about their options and conducting studies to monitor the retention rates and academic performance of transferring students.

Fast Break in Indianapolis
Progressive Policy Institute
September 2004
By Bryan C. Hassel

This review of charter schools in Indianapolis offers a history of the charter school movement in the city, reports on schools' success in the city, and explains the importance of having the Mayor as an authorizer.

Seeds of Change in the Big Apple
Progressive Policy Institute
September 2004
By Robin J. Lake

This study reviews the history of charter schools in New York City, the challenges that have been overcome, and the challenges still ahead for charter schools. The authors also outline ways in which the city is "poised to use charter schools to drive reform."

Stimulating the Supply of New Choice for Families in Light of NCLB
Education Commission of the States
September 2004
By Bryan C. Hassel and Lucy Steiner

This paper reviews ways in which states and districts can create systems conducive to promoting school choice under No Child Left Behind.

Closing Low-performing Schools and Reopening Them as Charter Schools: The Role of the State
Education Commission of the States
September 2004
Todd M. Ziebarth

As the title of this paper suggests, this policy paper reviews ways in which states and districts can successfully administrate the transition of a public school from a traditional model to a charter school. The paper reviews the potential benefits to reopening a traditional public school as a charter school.

A Straightforward Comparison of Charter Schools and Regular Public Schools in the United States
Harvard University and the National Bureau of Economic Research
Caroline M. Hoxby
September 2004

This study compares the reading and mathematics proficiency of charter school students in the United States to that of their fellow students in neighboring public schools. The charter schools are compared to the schools that their students would most likely otherwise attend: the nearest regular public school and the nearest regular public school with a similar racial composition. The results show 4 and 2 percent more proficiency for charter students respectively in reading and math in the first case and 5 and 3 percent in the second case.

Creating New Opportunities to Learn
Washington Policy Center
September 2004
Melissa Lambert Milewski

This study provides a history of the charter school movement in the United States, reviews Washington State's charter law passed in March 2004, and offers a variety of evidence on charter school effectiveness.

America Continues to Support School Choice
Wirthlin Worldwide/Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation Poll
August 13, 2004

This poll of 1,001 Americans aged 18 and older revealed that this nation continues to support the idea of school choice. The results also show "that the wording used in the Phi Delta Kappa studies to measure favorability toward school choice [negatively] biases public opinion toward the issue."

Restructuring Schools in Baltimore
Education Commission of the States
Lauren Morando Rhim
June 2004

This paper is a survey of how schools have been restructured in Baltimore under No Child Left Behind and through state reforms. The paper thoroughly evaluates what was reformed, how the changes were made, and what lessons were learned.

The Rugged Frontier: A Decade of Public Charter Schools in Arizona
The Progressive Policy Institute
Bryan C. Hassel and Michelle Godard Terrell
June 2004

According to this report, in its 10 years of existence, Arizona’s charter school system has led to a number of positive results. Academic excellence is reported from a high percentage of charter schools, and healthy competition has been fostered between traditional school districts and their charter counterparts. However, there are also problems with the system, and this report suggests a number of solutions. Among them are better procedures for closing “poorly performing schools,” an increase in individual school data for informed parent decisions and a “support system” in order to reproduce high quality charter schools.

Innovations in Education: Creating Strong District Choice Programs
U.S. Department of Education
May 2004

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement shows how five districts created successful school choice programs. The report offers several tactics that were found to be essential to creating more opportunities in these districts--and the report shows how they can be exported to other districts to create more strong programs.

Choosing Better Schools: A Report on Student Transfers Under the No Child Left Behind Act
Citizen's Commission on Civil Rights
May 2004

This report "tells the story of early efforts to implement the new NCLB public school choice provision." With the data gathered, the study finds that "few school officials see NCLB choice as an important opportunity for students." In addition, "Few states have provided guidance on implementation and most districts have done little affirmative outreach to parents."

Ripples of Innovation: Charter Schooling in Minnesota, the Nation's First Charter School State
The Progressive Policy Institute
May 3, 2004
Jon Schroeder

Minnesota was the first state to adopt a charter school law, and in this study the Progressive Policy Institute "traces the origins, evolution and impact" of Minnesota's law. Due to the pace of charter school creation in the state and the changing educational landscape under No Child Left Behind, PPI offers several lessons current legislators can use in evaluating the charter law and suggests seven changes to the law.

Status Report on Georgia's Charter Schools: 2002-2003 School Year
Georgia Department of Education
March 2004

According to this report, Georgia Charter Schools are doing as well, if not better than, traditional public schools in such areas as academic achievement, parental involvement and innovation in teaching style. A large percentage of parents would recommend not only their child’s charter school but also charter schools in general. Charter schools, especially “start-up” schools tend to rely heavily on their charters for accountability.

School Choice Issues in Depth: Grading Vouchers: Ranking America's School Choice Programs
The Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation
March 15, 2004
Robert C. Enlow

This report from the Friedman Foundation ranks the nation's school choice programs according to a number of criteria, including "Student Eligibility" and "Purchasing Power." The report dissects the reasons why each program was given its particular grade.

Charter School Funding in New York
Robin Jacobowitz and Jonathan S. Gyurko
March 2004

This report compares the funding of traditional New York public schools and charter schools in the state and finds that charter schools are not funded as adequately as traditional public schools.

Putting the Sides Together: School Choice in Texas?
The Texas Public Policy Foundation
March 2004
Chris Patterson, et al.

This publication is a collection of seven essays by school choice proponents. Each essay addresses school choice reform from a different angle and thoroughly examines the challenges to choice-based reform.

Comparison of Traditional Public Schools and Charter Schools on Retention, School Switching, and Achievement Growth
The Goldwater Institute
March 15, 2004
Lewis C. Solmon

This study of Arizona charter and traditional public school students compared test scores in order to "determine the net effect" the type of school had on a student's achievement. Researchers found that charter students started with lower test scores but "showed overall annual achievement growth roughly three points higher than their non-charter peers."

Flexible Approach to Education Delivery Makes Alberta a Leader
Fraser Forum
January 2004
Claudia R. Hepburn

Fraser Institute Education Policy Director Claudia R. Hepburn writes, "Alberta is Canada's reason for optimism about education. On national and international achievement tests, Alberta's students consistently score at or near the top, and they achieve this, it seems, not because Alberta out-spends the other provinces, but because it takes a more flexible, decentralized and customer-friendly approach to education delivery than do the other provinces."

Delivering Better Education: Market Solutions for Educational Improvement
The Adam Smith Institute
James Tooley, Pauline Dixon, and James Stanfield
2003

In this paper the Adam Smith Institute outlines the need for market-based reform in England's education system. Based around three core principles (equality, autonomy and diversity), the authors recommend ways in which successful reforms such as vouchers and charter schools can be imported to help students in England's schools.

The Promise and Peril of Charter Schools
The Center for Education Innovation
December 12, 2003
By John Danner and J.C. Bowman

Charter schools hold great promise for the future of education in America. The intrinsic accountability created simply by their presence in a community alongside traditional public schools pushes both schools to educate students well. However, laws that limit the number of charter schools that can be created in a state or locality threaten charter schools' potential. The authors also say, "Accountability and equity in charter schools remains a paramount concern." This paper examines the solutions to these and other problems surrounding charter schools' place in education reform.  

End State and Local Budget Deficits with School Choice
The Yankee Institute, Public Policy Report
Lewis M. Andrews
November 2003

Public school’s per pupil expenditures have increased 22.8 percent over the past two decades, with unfortunately high costs are associated with low student performance. Focusing on the concept of ‘school choice’ merely as an innovation in education does not allow viewing the potential of this concept to reduce the size of education budget. This paper suggests four ways to reach this goal.

School Choice: Doing It the Right Way Makes a Difference
The National Working Commission on Choice in K-12 Education
November 2003

School choice is a reality. It comes in many different forms and exists at the local, state and--possibly soon in Washington, D.C.--at the Federal level. The question for anyone involved in education is not if school choice should exist, but what form it should take. What makes a successful choice program? In this report, the Commission outlines what promotes student achievement within choice programs and what does not.

The Struggle for School Choice Policy After Zelman: Regulation vs. the Free Market
H. Lillian Omand
The Cato Institute
Policy Analysis No. 495
October 29, 2003

In the post-Zelman school choice movement, the details of how choice programs are constructed become even more important. How can legislation be drafted to bring out the best in a free market system? In this paper, the researcher "uses a national survey of private schools as a basis for analyzing the potential effects of various regulations."

Our History of Educational Freedom: What It Should Mean for Families Today
Marie Gryphon and Emily A. Meyer
The Cato Institute
Policy Analysis No. 492
October 8, 2003

In this report, researchers examine the tradition of educational freedom in America. The authors write, "America's ethos of educational freedom has always been strong, tied to our values of pluralism, tolerance, and free inquiry. But our legacy of freedom has suffered repeated assaults by individuals and groups who wish to use state control over schooling to homogenize American culture."

Charter Schools in Indianapolis: 2003 Accountability Report
City of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson, Mayor
September 3, 2003

This report examines student performance at Indianapolis charter schools. Researchers found significant increases on test scores between fall 2002 and spring 2003 testing of 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade charter students using Terra Nova exams.

Draft Five-Year Report to the Governor and the Legislature on the Charter School Approach
The State Education Department/The University of the State of New York
September 3, 2003

This report on the nature, composition, and characteristics of New York charter schools offers a look at charter school demographics and student performance. The study shows that, after four years of operation, more charter schools met or exceeded the state's Performance Index than after the first year of operation.

What the Research Reveals About Charter Schools
The Center for Education Reform

September 2003

This third edition of this CER study summarizes and catalogs the major research compiled in the first two studies, and it also contains abstracts and source data on studies completed since the last edition. The evidence is clear: charter schools are improving education for America's kids.

Closing the Education Achievement Gap: Is Title I Working?
Marvin Kosters and Brent Mast
American Enterprise Institute Press
2003

The authors of this book answer the question posed in the title with a resounding "no," and they suggest replacing the current system of Title I appropriations with a broad school choice program for the very students Title I was supposed to serve. More review and evaluation is needed for students attending school under Title I, the authors argue, and those schools that report poor performance while using federal dollars should allow parents to move their children to higher-performing schools.

Apples to Apples: An Evaluation of Charter Schools Serving General Student Populations
Jay P. Greene, Ph.D., Greg Forster, Ph.D., Marcus A. Winters
The Manhattan Institute
July 16, 2003

This study compares the test scores of similar populations of students in attendance at public charter schools and traditional public schools--hence, "Apples to Apples." The Manhattan Institute researchers found that charter school students outperformed their public school peers, and by comparing test scores from similar student populations, the results accurately reflect the benefits to charter students of attending a charter school.

Ron Zimmer, Richard Buddin, Derrick Chau, Glenn Daley, Brian Gill, Cassandra Guarino, Laura Hamilton, Cathy Krop, Dan McCaffrey, Melinda Sandler, and Dominic Brewer
RAND Institute
June 30, 2003

This study conducted by RAND, a non-profit research and analysis institute, shows that California charter school students perform at least as well academically as their traditional public school peers. This is notable since charter schools receive less funding than public schools, typically enroll more academically-challenged students, and tend to have less experienced teachers. The study also found that students in new charter schools (as opposed to converted public schools) perform slightly better than those in traditional public schools.

Charter School Authorizing: Are States Making the Grade?
Louann Bierlein Palmer and Rebecca Gau
Thomas B. Fordham Institute
June 2003

Researchers examine charter school authorizers in 24 states to determine how well they are doing in fulfilling six main responsibilities. The study also gauges how supportive the state’s overall policy environment is for charter schools and authorizers.

Does School Choice Increase School Quality?
The National Bureau of Economic Research
George M. Holmes, Jeff DeSimone, Nicholas G. Rupp
May 2003

In this study, researchers "investigate how the introduction of school choice in North Carolina, via a dramatic increase in the number of charter schools across the state, affects the performance of traditional public schools on statewide tests." The authors found that the introduction of charter schools in N.C. caused an increase in student achievement.

Trends in the Use of School Choice 1993 - 1999
National Center for Education Statistics
National Household Education Surveys Program
May 2003

The survey shows that more families, particularly those with lower incomes, are participating in “public-school choice,” sending their children to schools other than their assigned schools. Further, the National Center for Education Statistics found that parents of students in private-schools or public schools of choice were “more likely to say they were very satisfied with their children’s schools, teachers, academic standards, and order and discipline” than were parents of students attending a public school to which they had been assigned.

Charter Schools 2002: Results from CER’s Annual Survey of America’s Charter Schools
Center for Education Reform
October 2002

Results from the Center for Education Reform’s 2002 Survey of American Charter Schools show that charter schools, in addition to educating children who are poorly served by traditional public schools, are both cost-effective and innovative.

Charter School Closures: The Opportunity for Accountability
Center for Education Reform
October 2002

This report examines the issues surrounding the 6.7% of all charter schools which have closed in their 10 year history. CER discusses how the closure of some charter schools actually proves that choice is succeeding as an accountability and quality control system. However, both the traditional public school establishment – which does not face the same kinds of standards – and the media apply heightened scrutiny to charter schools, often sensationalizing their missteps and ignoring charter schools’ successes.

Evaluation of Connecticut Charter Schools and the Charter School Initiative
The Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University
Gary Miron and Jerry Horn
September 2002

This paper discusses the various difficulties Connecticut charter schools have endured, causing several to close and leaving several with insufficient funds for adequate playground, athletic, performance, and scientific facilities. The paper also discusses charter students’ performance on standardized tests (slightly lower than state levels, potentially due to the type of students charters attract, especially at the high school level), and other quality standards like student, parent, and teacher satisfaction with education quality (all voted the quality either high or improving).

The Approval Barrier to Suburban Charter Schools
Pushpam Jain
University of Maine and Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
September 2002

This report examines policies in four states to explain why charter schools generally appear in urban areas but not the suburbs. Prof. Jain traces the distribution patterns of charter schools to see whether state charter laws grant chartering power to entities that actually want charter schools. The author concludes that if multiple chartering authorities exist, more charters are granted. If only local district boards – which generally dislike charters as “unwanted competition” – have unchecked authority to authorize charter schools, few appear.

School Choice and School Productivity (Or, Could School Choice Be a Tide That Lifts All Boats?)
Caroline Hoxby
National Bureau of Economic Research
Working Paper
No. 8873
April 2002

Harvard professor Caroline Hoxby found that competition from charter schools in Michigan and Arizona, and from Milwaukee’s voucher program, compelled public schools to raise their productivity, as measured by students’ achievement gains.

Challenge and Opportunity: The Impact of Charter Schools on Districts
U.S. Department of Education
June 2001

Challenge and Opportunity: The Impact of Charter Schools on Districts,” reported that districts improved their services and operations in response to competition from charter schools.

A Decade of Public Charter Schools, Evaluation of the Public Charter Schools Program: 2000-2001 Evaluation Report
Lee Anderson, Nancy Adelman, Kara Finnigan, Lynyonne Cotton, Mary Beth Donnelly, and Tiffany Price
SRI International
November 2002

The 2000–2001 evaluations of the Public Charter Schools Program, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, found that charter schools are smaller than traditional public schools, enjoy strong parental involvement, and serve diverse populations of students.

Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Second Year Report on Participation
Patrick Wolf, Babette Gutmann, Michael Puma, and Marsha Silverberg
May 4, 2006

This second report from the U.S. Department of Education on Washington, DC's federally-funded voucher program provides more descriptive information on student and school participation. Some 5,800 students have applied to the program in the first two years of operation, and 10 private schools joined the program in 2005 (now 68 private schools are receiving students). The report provides detailed information on both the schools and students.

School Choice for Maryland Foster Care Children
The Maryland Public Policy Institute
Dan Lips
October 11, 2005

Foster children are often subject to transitions--moving from one family to another--and so could benefit from specifically-tailored educational options. In this paper Heritage Education Analyst Dan Lips explores the benefits a voucher program could have for foster children in Maryland.

School Choice Demonstration Project
Georgetown University
October 2005

This is the first quantitative report from Georgetown University's School Choice Demonstration Project on the federally-funded voucher program in Washington, DC. The study reports high levels of satisfaction among parents whose children are participating in the program.

The Efficacy of Choice Threats within School Accountability Systems: Results from Legislatively Induced Experiments
Program on Education Policy and Governance, Havard University
Martin R. West and Paul E. Peterson
March 23, 2005

This paper examines school accountability systems under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and Florida’s A+ Accountability program. The authors "estimate the impact on student performance of the choice threats" and found that students at Florida schools were more likely to show improvement after facing the "threat" of vouchers, while there was no such indication for schools facing similar prospects under NCLB. 

State Control of Schools Has Failed to Help Paterson, New Jersey Children: Why Not Choice Instead?
The Lexington Institute
March 2005
Robert Holland and Don Soifer

This paper reviews the condition of public education in Paterson, New Jersey and explores the potential for a voucher program.

A School Voucher Program for Baltimore City
Maryland Public Policy Institute
March 2005
Dan Lips

This paper proposes a voucher program for the Baltimore City school system--a system struggling financially and struggling to raise student achievement. This proposed program would be phased-in over 10 years, eventually serving 10,000 students and saving the school system $6 million.

Preserving Educational Pluralism in Maine
Maine Association of Independent Schools
December 2004
by Jay Brennan

Maine's tuitioning program dates back over 100 years, and it is an example of the decentralized system of education that used to exist in the United States. Author Jay Brennan says "this model if expanded could support the educational reform taking place nationally."

The School Choice Experience: Findings of the Children First: School Choice Trust Parent Survey
The Fraser Institute
September 2004
By Virginia Gentles

School Choice Trust is the first privately-funded program in Canada offering tuition assistance to parents who send their children to independent schools. The program pays half of the cost of tuition up to $3,500. This survey reports on the demographics of participating parents.

Graduation Rates for Choice and Public School Students in Milwaukee
School Choice Wisconsin
September 28, 2004
Jay P. Greene, Ph.D.

This study found that 64 percent of students participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program graduated on time in 2003 (having entered 9th grade in 1999), while only 36 percent of students in the public school system did so. The finding was supported by the results of a second measure of graduation rates, using a slightly different method.

School Choice and School Competition: Evidence from the United States
Swedish Economic Policy Review
Volume 10, 2003
Caroline M. Hoxby

In this paper Caroline Hoxby writes that while "[t]he sorting consequences of a school choice plan depend strongly on its design," evidence from the United States shows that 1) school choice programs raise student achievement once they leave one school to attend another and 2) the school sending the students to a different school also improves. 

The Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit: Providing Choice for Arizona Taxpayers and Students
The Goldwater Institute
Policy Report #186
Carrie Lips Lukas, Director of Policy, Independent Women's Forum
December 11, 2003

This paper is the second major project assessing the impact of Arizona's scholarship tax credit program on the state's educational system. This paper outlines the schematics of the policy, proposes reforms to the program, and evaluates other reforms that have been proposed.

The Impact of Tuition Scholarships on Low-Income Families: A Survey of Arizona School Choice Trust Parents
The Goldwater Institute
Policy Report #187
Dan Lips, President, Arizona Dream Foundation, and Associate Scholar, Goldwater Institute
December 11, 2003

This survey of parents using a private scholarship program for their children's education supports earlier surveys of similar programs around the country: parents are more satisfied with the education their children receive in private school than in their original public school. These findings offer further support that school choice programs satisfy parents better than the traditional placement of the public school system.

How Members of Congress Practice School Choice
The Heritage Foundation
Backgrounder #1684
Krista Kafer and Jonathan Butcher
September 3, 2003

In 2003, The Heritage Foundation conducted a survey of Members of Congress on school choice. Of those who responded to the survey, 41 percent of U.S. Representatives and 46 percent of U.S. Senators send or have sent at least one of their children to a private school. In the general population, only about 10 percent of students attend private schools. Heritage Foundation surveys of Congress conducted in 2001 and 2000 yielded similar results.

School Choice Facts
The Institute for Justice
September 2003

The Institute for Justice, a civil liberties law firm that has litigated all over the country in defense of school choice, assembled a list of statistics and legal briefs that amplify the need for more choice in Washington, D.C.

What Does a Voucher Buy? A Look at the Cost of Private Schools
David Salisbury
Cato Institute
Policy Analysis No. 486
August 28, 2003

This study looked at the cost of private schools in several areas around the country, including New Orleans, Houston, Washington, D.C. The researcher explains what amount of voucher award would be most beneficial to students and how these awards would save money for the areas reviewed because the voucher amounts are significantly lower than the public school per pupil cost.

When schools compete: The Effects of Vouchers on Florida Public School Achievement
Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters
Center for Civic Innovation at the Manhattan Institute
Education Working Paper No. 2
August 2003

This study, by Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Jay P. Greene, Ph.D., and Research Associate Marcus A. Winters, analyzes the effect of Florida’s A+ Program on public schools. Proponents of school vouchers have long argued that competition for students and the funding they generate will give public schools powerful incentives to improve. This study shows that schools in direct competition with vouchers, or threatened by the prospect of vouchers, are making educational gains greater than those of other low-performing schools that are not facing voucher competition.

No Child Left Behind Mandates School Choice: Colorado's First Year
Independence Institute
Pamela Benigno
June 2003

This Issue Paper reviews the methods Colorado used to notify parents of their educational options. Students attending schools on the "School Improvement" list had the option to transfer to a different school, and the state's responsibility was to communicate this option in a "neutral" way--neither discouraging nor encouraging a particular decision from parents. The study found that many districts and schools did not make parents aware of their options in an unbiased manner.

Vouchers for Special Education Students: An Evaluation of Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program
Jay P. Greene and Greg Forster
Center for Civic Innovation at the Manhattan Institute
Civic Report
No. 38
June 2003

In this first empirical analysis of the nation’s second largest school voucher program, Greene and Forster find that the McKay Scholarship Program is succeeding by many measures at delivering better services to families of disabled students. In their surveys, parents report that in McKay-sponsored private schools their children were better treated, received more services and had smaller class sizes, achieved better educational performance and better behavior, and that they were happier overall – all by substantially higher levels than with their traditional public school. Over 70% of families report being able to obtain this education at or within $1,000 above the value of the voucher.

True Private Choice: A Practical Guide to School Choice after Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
Marie Gryphon

Cato Institute
Policy Analysis
No. 466

February 4, 2003

Gryphon’s analysis clarifies the Constitutional requirements the Supreme Court set out in the recent school choice case, including that the program be secular and educational in purpose, and that if a religious option is included there must be non-religious alternatives. Gryphon then provides advocates with a strategy for advancing an expanded school choice policy within those bounds, and discusses the test cases probing the conflict over school choice between the First Amendment and more restrictive state constitutions.

Educational Vouchers and Tax Credits: A State-by-State Summary of Current Programs
Marya DeGrow
The Independence Institute
December 18, 2002

DeGrow’s paper identifies the scope and breadth of the tax credit and voucher systems used by 11 states to provide varying degrees of school choice for families of K-12 aged children.

The Need for Educational Freedom in the Nation’s Capital
Casey Lartigue
Cato Institute
Policy Analysis
No. 461
December 10, 2002

Lartigue’s historical analysis details the chronic problems of Washington DC’s top-funded, under-performing public schools. He argues that blaming the usual scapegoats like insufficient funding and personal failures of certain school leaders is a decades-old distraction that will only shield a deeply troubled system from meaningful reform. Instead, he urges that the system be enervated with new leadership, parent participation and entrepreneurship.

Vouchers for Private Schooling in Colombia: Evidence from a Randomized Natural Experiment
The American Economic Review
Joshua Angrist, Eric Bettinger, Erik Bloom, Elizabeth King, and Michael Kremer
December 2002

In Colombia, a lottery is used to award scholarships for students to attend private secondary schools. After three years, the students using the vouchers were nearly 10 percentage points more likely to have finished 8th grade. The study also found that these students "were less likely to marry or cohabit as teenagers."

Rising to the Challenge: The Effect of School Choice on Public Schools in Milwaukee and San Antonio
Jay P. Greene and Greg Forster
Manhattan Institute
Civic Bulletin
No. 27
October 2002

The study focuses on the impact of school choice on the academic achievement of public school students in Milwaukee and San Antonio. After controlling for demographic characteristics such as race and income level and differences in expenditures, the authors found increased academic achievement in public schools that had been exposed to competition from private school scholarship programs and charter schools.

What Next for School Vouchers
Harvard University Program on Education Policy and Governance
Conference proceedings and presentation of papers
October 17-18, 2002

This website includes presentations by numerous school voucher leaders on various fronts of the voucher wars, including Constitutional status, the historical and international status of government and religious schools, school choice in urban areas, and vouchers’ political future.

School Vouchers: Characteristics of Privately Funded Programs
U.S. General Accounting Office
GAO-–02-–752
September 2002

The GAO examined research findings regarding 78 privately funded voucher programs. Several studies showed that families using vouchers were more satisfied with their children’s new schools with regard to such factors as academics and safety. Parents using privately funded vouchers reported that their children’s schools communicated with them more frequently and had a more positive environment than did the public schools. Other studies documented the academic gains of African–American students who had received vouchers.

The Impact of School Choice on Racial Integration in Milwaukee Public Schools
Howard Fuller and Deborah Greiveldinger
American Education Reform Council
August 2002

When Milwaukee added religious schools to the range of choices in its voucher program, opponents contended the change would increase racial segregation. This study presents evidence that racial integration is actually higher among Milwaukee’s religious choice schools, and furthermore that choice schools are more integrated than traditional public schools overall. However, older public school choice programs which were created primarily for the purpose of integration have harmed African-American students and benefited whites.

The Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit: A Model for Reform
The Goldwater Institute
Arizona Issue Analysis 173
Dan Lips
July 31, 2002

In this study, Dan Lips finds that the Arizona scholarship tax credit generated $56 million in scholarships for over 36,000 students between 1998 and 2002.

The Unintended Benefits of Private School Choice
Thomas Nechyba, Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation
June 2002
see also Thomas Nechyba, School Finance, Spatial Income Segregation, and the Nature of Communities
Duke University and National Bureau of Economic Research

Research conducted in 2002 by Duke University professor Thomas Nechyba suggests that a citywide voucher program could alleviate neighborhood income segregation by attracting higher-income families to poorer areas. Their relocation to low-income neighborhoods would increase property values and improve the tax base, thereby generating greater revenues for the public schools. Thus, benefits flow not only to students using vouchers, but also to students who remain in the public-school system.

The Effects of Town Tuitioning in Vermont and Maine
Christopher Hammons, Ph.D.
Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation
2002

A 2002 analysis of the voucher programs in Maine and Vermont (the oldest in the nation) found that choice increases productivity. In these states, students in towns without public schools may attend private schools at public expense. Schools located in areas where there was high competition in attracting students (and their per-pupil funding) had a strong incentive to improve performance. Such schools exhibited higher levels of achievement than did those in areas with less competition.

Learning for Success: What Americans Can Learn From School Choice in Canada
William Robinson and Claudia Hepburn
School Choice Issues in Depth
Vol. 1, Issue 2

The report analyzes the benefits of school choice policies in Canada showing that public schools improve under competitive innovation, private schools are accountable to provincial curriculum and assessment standards yet “maintain independence with school choice,” all schools provide higher quality education, and Canadians broadly approve of the system. The report specifically credits broader access to choice as a cause of the higher average achievement levels among disadvantaged students.

School Choice in New York After Three Years: An Evaluation of the School Choice Scholarship Program Final Report
Daniel Mayer, Paul Peterson, Christina Clark Tuttle, and William Howell
Harvard University, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and University of Wisconsin
February 2002

According to research conducted by Harvard University professor Paul Peterson, the academic achievement of low-income African–American students who received scholarships offered by the School Choice Scholarships Foundation (SCSF) rose significantly.

School Choice Works! The Case of Sweden
Fredrik Bergstrom and F. Mikael Sandstrom
School Choice Issues in Thought, Vol. 1, Issue 1
January 2002

The authors, Swedish PhD’s in economics, present Sweden’s school reform story from before the early 90’s with nationally-controlled funding and curriculum, to a localized, parental choice-driven system in which citizens have the opportunity to create or send their children to equally-funded, fast-growing independent schools. Independent schools must be approved by the national government (sometimes over local objections), may not charge tuition or discriminate for admissions on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion, and must meet the same standards and “targets” as the public schools. The study also considers the effects of competition on traditional “municipal” schools and special needs students.

How School Choice Helps the Milwaukee Public Schools
John Gardner
American Education Reform Council
January 2002

John Gardner, former member of the Milwaukee School Board, reviews the initial arguments against the institution of school choice in Milwaukee in the 90’s -- that it would cause a decline in students, funds and academic performance and shows how the opposite actually resulted. Budgets have increased, as have student populations and performance. Gardner tracks how, when dollars follow students, schools are empowered to make critical staff and budget decisions in response to immediate need. As a result, he discusses how schools have increased merit-based teacher selection and provided more educational services to disadvantaged areas.

The Education Gap
William G. Howell and Paul E. Peterson
The Brookings Institution
2002

This book reviews "data from randomized field trials conducted in New York City; Dayton, OH; and Washington, DC." The authors also include information from a voucher program in the San Antonio school district and "a randomized field trial evaluation of a program that offered vouchers to 40,000 low-income families nationwide." The findings were consistent: on average, participating students scored "three percentile points higher than their public school peers in Year I, six percentile points higher in Year II, and seven points higher in Year III."

The Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit: Giving Parents Choices, Saving Taxpayers Money
Carrie Lips and Jennifer Jacoby
Cato Institute
Policy Analysis
No. 414
September 12, 2001

This paper reviews the results of Arizona’s then-four year old $500 tax credit for organizations that donate to K-12 tuition scholarship programs. Through surveys of schools and analysis of state revenue figures, the authors found that in its first three years, over $32 million in donations provided 19,000 scholarships, mostly to needy students. Because the tuition funds raised by the tax credit offset moneys that would otherwise come from the state education budget, the program was revenue neutral.

Lessons From Maine: Education Vouchers for Students Since 1873
Frank Heller
Cato Institute
Briefing Paper No. 66
September 10, 2001

The state of Maine’s unique school choice program provides funds to towns which do not have traditional public schools to sponsor their local children to attend another approved public or private school. In 1999, this program enabled over 35,000 Maine children to attend a school of choice at a cost of “20 percent less than Maine’s average per pupil expenditure for public education.” This paper documents the history of the program and offers recommendations for expanding school choice opportunities to families both in Maine and nationwide.

Lessons From Vermont: 132-Year-Old Voucher Program Rebuts Critics
Libby Sternberg
Cato Institute
Briefing Paper No. 67
September 10, 2001

The author discusses Vermont’s voucher program, which paid tuition to public and private schools for over 6,500 children in grades K-12 in 1998-99. The history of Vermont’s program refutes conventional attacks on vouchers that they “skim” the best students or “drain” funds from public schools.

Results of a School Voucher Experiment: The Case of Washington, D.C., After Two Years
Patrick J. Wolf, Paul E. Peterson, and Martin R. West
prepared for annual meeting of the American Political Science Association
San Francisco, California
August 30 - September 2, 2001

The study compares the academic experience of students using privately funded vouchers through the Washington Scholarship Fund with that of similar students in a control group who remained in public schools. The findings on academic and social indicators were significant: Parental satisfaction was higher for parents of scholarship students, and African–American students using the vouchers scored 9 percentile points higher on national math and reading achievement tests than their peers in public schools.

Evaluation of the Cleveland Scholarship Program
Kim Metcalf, Indiana University
September 2001

This evaluation studied three groups of students entering kindergarten in 1998: those who applied for and received scholarships; those who applied for but did not receive scholarships; and those who did not apply for scholarships. The study found that the students using the vouchers performed "at significantly higher levels than other students when they entered first grade."

Vouchers in Charlotte
Jay Greene
Education Next
Summer 2001

This study reviewed the achievement gains in math and science from students participating in a private scholarship program in Charlotte, NC. Author and researcher Jay Greene found that after one year students in the program scored 5.9 percentile points higher on the math section of the ITBS and 6.5 percentile points higher on the reading section of the test.

Rhetoric Versus Reality: What We Know and What We Need to Know About Vouchers and Charter Schools
Brian P. Gill, P. Michael Timpane, Karen E. Ross, and Dominic J. Brewer
RAND Corporation
RB-–8018-–EDU, 2001

The 2001 RAND Corporation review of existing literature on voucher and charter programs found that the voucher programs produced positive or neutral achievement benefits, resulted in higher parental satisfaction, and hold the potential for increases in school integration. Because choice programs have been small and limited, RAND researchers caution against using them to make predictions about the impact of large programs. Rather, they suggest, “A program of vigorous research and experimentation is called for, but not one confined to choice programs. Better information on the performance of conventional public schools and alternative reform models is needed as well.”

Fiscal Analysis of a $500 Federal Education Tax Credit to Help Millions, Save Billions
Darcy Ann Olsen, Carrie Lips, and Dan Lips
Cato Institute
Policy Analysis No. 398
May 1, 2001

In this analysis, researchers have assumed that every dollar spent on the tax credit would result in a direct revenue loss to the federal government. At the state level, however, use of the tax credit could result in tremendous savings. Cato analysts say that by reducing the cost of private schooling, the credit would encourage some parents to transfer their children from public to private schools. "As students transfer, state governments have fewer pupils to educate and can reduce expenditures accordingly."

An Evaluation of the Children’s Scholarship Fund
Paul Peterson and David Campbell
Harvard University Program on Education Policy and Governance
May 2001

The authors use the wide-based, lottery-selected population of Children’s Scholarship Fund beneficiaries to study the effects of attending private schools. Among the most clear results were that parents of children in private schools are substantially more satisfied with their child’s school and feel there are fewer problems in their schools, and that private schools generally offer smaller classes. The large, randomized sample lends credibility to their assessment.

Lies and Distortions: The Campaign Against School Vouchers
Howard Fuller and Kaleem Caire
Marquette University Institute for the Transformation of Learning Black Alliance for Educational Options
April 2001

This report argues that informed, rational debate over vouchers is undermined by the deceptive methods of school voucher opponents. Fuller and Caire present evidence that a variety of organizations intentionally mislead the public about school vouchers through a “Big Lie” strategy. The media has compounded the misunderstandings by reporting inaccurate information and broadcasting anti-choice advocates’ attacks on “straw men” or un-real policies, resulting in a “contaminated discussion.” The report encourages the media to reveal this campaign of deception and help the public weigh the true opportunities and potential costs of vouchers.

A 2001 analysis of the Florida A+ program, conducted by Jay P. Greene of the Manhattan Institute, found that vouchers provided a strong incentive for schools to improve. In Florida, schools receive grades ranging from “A” to “F,” based on the proportion of students who pass the state’s proficiency tests. Students who attend schools that receive a failing grade twice within a four-year period can receive a voucher to attend another public or private school of choice. Greene found that schools receiving an “F” improved when they were faced with the prospect of vouchers.

The Effects of School Vouchers on Student Achievement: A Response to Critics
William G. Howell, Patrick J. Wolf, Paul E. Peterson and David E. Campbell
Harvard University Program on Education Policy and Governance

The authors address criticism of their original research methodology by showing, among other issues, how they controlled for differences and changes in the studied population; found minimal differences in results when family background was not controlled for; contrasted choosers with non-choosers to factor-out the effects of self-selection; focused on the school as the accurate level of analysis, not the student. Additionally, the authors included several cities in their study while most critics only looked at one city, or just certain grades within one city. The authors thus uphold their conclusion that the voucher programs they tested indicate solid improvement for African Americans but not other groups. Yet they conclude on a cautionary note, urging more testing of more ethnic groups over a larger sample size and time.

An Evaluation of the BASIC Fund Scholarship Program in the San Francisco Bay Area, California
Paul Peterson, David Campbell, Martin West
Harvard University Program on Education Policy and Governance
January 2001

This survey compared the attitudes of parents who exercised school choice through the BASIC program with other local and national samples of low-income families. Families receiving scholarships are up to three times more satisfied with their schools’ overall quality than non-recipients, and only half as many feel there are serious behavior problems in their schools. The report also discusses differences in demographics, religiosity, parental involvement at the school and other characteristics.

Rising Tide
Caroline Minter Hoxby
Education Next
Winter 2001

What happens to the traditional public schools in an area where charter schools or privately-funded or publicly-funded scholarships are available? Caroline Hoxby offers test score data that shows that traditional public schools can make significant improvements when they have to compete for students.

The Looming Shadow
Jay P. Greene
Education Next
Winter 2001

This study examines "whether vouchers inspired improvement among Florida's failing schools can be studied." In this report, the author provides evidence that this is, in fact, the case: "Schools that had received F grades in 1999 experienced the largest gains on the FCAT between 1999 and 2000."

Test-Score Effects of School Vouchers in Dayton, Ohio, New York City, and Washington, D.C.: Evidence from Randomized Field Trials
William G. Howell, Patrick J. Wolf, Paul E. Peterson, David E. Campbell
Paper prepared for the annual meetings of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C.
September 2000

In this study of three privately-funded voucher programs, researchers found that, after two years, the overall test score performance of African American students in all three cities increased by a statistically significant amount (6.3 National Percentile Ranking points).

The Effect of School Choice: An Evaluation of the Charlotte Children's Scholarship Fund
Jay P. Greene
The Manhattan Institute, Civic Report No. 12
August 2000

This Manhattan Institute Civic Report finds that school choice has positive results: The evidence from the Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) program in Charlotte suggests that providing low-income families with scholarships has significant benefits for those families. This finding is consistent with the results from similar evaluations of scholarship programs in New York, Washington, D.C., and Dayton, Ohio as well as the results of evaluations of publicly funded school choice programs in Milwaukee and Cleveland.

A Survey of Results from Voucher Experiments: Where We Are and What We Know
Jay P. Greene
The Manhattan Institute
Civic Report No. 11
July 2000

This report offers substantial empirical data from studies conducted between 1995 and 2000. Greene finds "a positive consensus among...eight studies, of five existing choice programs, conducted by four different groups of researchers" on the benefits of school choice.

Competing to Win: How Florida's A+ Plan Has Triggered Public School Reform
Carol Innerst
April 2000

This report examines the ways in which public schools have responded to pressure to retain students while operating under Florida's Opportunity Scholarship program. Innerst says that the new "consequences" public schools face for not improving have given them "a sense of urgency and zeal."

School Choice in Dayton, Ohio: An Evaluation After One Year
William G. Howell and Paul E. Peterson
Harvard University
February 2000

In the 1998-1999 school year, a private scholarship program was created for low-income students in Montgomery County, Ohio. This Harvard study found that most of the participants were African Americans, and the participating students' scores saw a statistically significant improvement over their public school peers in the control group.

School Choice in Washington, D.C.: An Evaluation After One Year
Patrick J. Wolf, William G. Howell, Paul E. Peterson
Harvard University
February 2000

This study looked at the 1,000 students who participated in the Washington Scholarship Fund lottery for private school vouchers. This randomized field trial found that participating African American students in grades two through five outperformed their public-school peers by 7 national percentile points in math.

An Evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau
February 2000

This third evaluation of the Milwaukee voucher program by the Audit Bureau looked at participating pupils' characteristics, reasons for family participation, participating school compliance, and other indicators of academic quality.

Choice and Community: The Racial, Economic, and Religious Context of Parental Choice in Cleveland
Jay P. Greene
The Buckeye Institute
November 1999

This study found that parental choice in Cleveland did a better job of integrating students than did the traditional public school system. Further, "Of all of the students who attend a publicly-financed school of choice in Cleveland, only 16.5 percent currently attend a religious school."

An Evaluation of the Cleveland Voucher Program After Two Years
Paul E. Peterson, William G. Howell, Jay P. Greene
Program on Education Policy and Governance, Harvard University
June 1999

This report contains a review of responses from Cleveland parents whose students had been involved in the Cleveland publicly-sponsored scholarship program. The researchers found a high level of parental satisfaction among parents using vouchers when compared to parents who applied for but did not receive vouchers and parents of traditional public school students.

The Fiscal Impact of School Choice on the Milwaukee Public Schools
Howard L. Fuller, Ph.D., and George A. Mitchell
Marquette University Institute for the Transformation of Learning
March 1999

This study found that real Milwaukee Public School (MPS) spending grew more than 3 times faster than enrollment; state aid to MPS grew nearly 7 times faster than enrollment; and MPS property taxes declined 33 percent.

Evaluation of the Cleveland Scholarship Program: Second-Year Report (1997-1998)
Kim K. Metcalf
The Indiana Center for Evaluation, Indiana University
November 1998

This second evaluation of this multi-year project looked at the impact of the school choice program on students, families, and schools, paying particular attention to students' academic achievement. The main finding in this study was that the students who accepted the scholarship were very similar in race, family income, and family living arrangements to their public school peers.

Lessons from the Cleveland Scholarship Program
Jay P. Greene, William G. Howell, Paul E. Peterson
Harvard University's Program on Education Policy and Governance
October 15, 1997

This study of the Cleveland voucher program showed a high level of parental satisfaction with their choice school, high student retention rate among the choice schools, and measurable levels of academic improvement in some of the voucher students. 

Effectiveness of School Choice: The Milwaukee Experiment
Jay P. Greene, Paul E. Peterson, Jiangtao Du
Harvard Occasional Paper, March 1997

This paper reviewed student achievement while participating in the Milwaukee voucher program. The authors reported gains from the participating students over and above their public school peers, and the "results...are statistically significant for students remaining in the program for three to four years..."

Delta County School District Has VISION for School Choice
Marya DeGrow
Independence Institute
June 29, 2005

Researcher Marya DeGrow explains how homeschooling families use public dollars to participate in programs allowing students to split time between their homeschool program and community programs.

Home Schooling in Nevada: The Budgetary Impact
Nevada Policy Research Institute
John T. Wenders, Ph.D. and Andrea D. Clements, Ph.D.

The number of homeschool students in Nevada has grown 2.17 percent and 5.81 percent, respectively, in the past two years—and despite fears that more homeschoolers would drain funds from the public school system, local school districts have actually gained between $24.3 and $34.6 million.

Homeschooling Grows Up
Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.
The Home School Legal Defense Association
2003

The Home School Legal Defense Association commissioned Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., to survey adults who were homeschooled and find out whether this educational delivery system served them well. After surveying 7,300 adults, Ray produced this report, the results of which "confirm what homeschoolers have thought for years: "No problem here." 

The Scholastic Achievement and Demographic Characteristics of Home School Students in 1998
Lawrence M. Rudner, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College of Library and Information Services, ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation

The study found home-school students have higher academic achievement than students in public or private schools. Home-schooled elementary school students tend to perform one grade level higher than their peers in traditional schools. By high school, they are achieving four grade levels above the national average.

Strengths of Their Own: Home Schoolers Across America
Dr. Brian D. Ray
National Home Education Research Institute
1997 

The study shows that “Regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, parent education level, teacher certification, or the degree of government regulation, the academic achievement scores of home educated students significantly exceed those of public school students.” It includes positive findings on socialization.

Private Education is Good for the Poor: A Study of Private Schools Serving the Poor in Low-Income Countries
Cato Institute
James Tooley and Pauline Dixon
2005

Authors James Tooley and Pauline Dixon conducted an in-depth study of students and schools in India, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, and found that private schools "can play--indeed, already are playing--an important, if unsung, role in reaching the poor." Contrary to the widely-held belief that private schools are only serving the upper and middle classes in countries across the globe, Tooley and Dixon found large numbers of private schools in poor areas, and, in what may be an equally surprising finding, students at many of the private schools are performing "considerably" higher than their peers at government schools.

The State of Education in Colorado 2005
The Fund for Colorado's Future
Krista Kafer
October 2005

In this review of education in Colorado, Krista Kafer explains that residents have much to be proud of, as their state is "a pioneer in the standards and accountability movement." Colorado's graduation rate is higher than the national average, and students also score higher on national assessments than the national average. However, the state is still facing challenges, Kafer, explains, particularly in the areas of reading, science and writing. Further, there is a significant achievement gap between students of different ethnic backgrounds.

Researchers from the Center on Reinventing Public Education review Title I funding and find two major problems with the program: first, it is difficult to tell how much is spent at any individual school. Second, Title I funds are not being used just to augment services for disadvantaged students--often they are used to put spending on par with other schools.

Getting Honest About Grad Rates: How States Play the Numbers and Students Lose
Daria Hall
Education Trust
June 2005

This report details the significant inaccuracies of state high school graduation rate reports, as many states either do not report their graduation rates or use faulty criteria to produce their numbers. In fact, a number of states do not measure the graduation rate of entering freshmen, rather they measure the percentage of seniors who graduate, completely ignoring those who drop-out in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade; leaving the state with inflated graduation rates. 

No Child Left Behind: The Dangers of Centralized Education Policy
Lawrence A. Uzzell
The Cato Institute
May 31, 2005

Researcher Lawrence A. Uzzell scrutinizes the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), saying it "directly contradicts the principles of an 'ownership society,'" principles President George W. Bush's administration has said to have embraced. He says NCLB is a centralized, bureaucratic system, and argues, "The best contribution the national government can make to educational improvement is to...allow states to experiment with school choice programs."

Accountability for Better Results
National Commission on Accountability in Higher Education
March 10, 2005

For America to regain its educational dominance, the highest standards of accountability for student success, research and service, and greater productivity in higher education must be attained. This report redefines America's current educational accountability system through an approach that includes respecting boundaries between federal and state institutions, increasing the emphasis placed on quality learning rather than rankings, and promoting closer cooperation between parents, students, policymakers, and concerned citizens.

A Nation's Colleges at Risk
National Commission on Accountability in Higher Education
March 2005

This report raises significant concerns over postsecondary education in America, including graduation rates. The report criticizes current recordkeeping practices among colleges and universities and calls for more thorough evaluations of the problems facing institutions.

Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991-2002
Jay P. Greene, Ph.D. and Marcus A. Winters
Manhattan Institute
Education Working Paper No. 8
February 2005

This study provides a thorough review of graduation rates in the United States from 1991-2002. The report also provides data on how many students leave high school with the skills necessary to prepare them for studies at postsecondary institutions.  

School Choice: Facts Not Myths
American Legislative Exchange Council
Robert C. Enlow and Matt Ladner
January 2005

Robert C. Enlow and Matt Ladner of ALEC offer seven facts about school choice ranging from benefits to low-income students to how choice can help public schools improve. The authors separate facts from unfounded myths about school choice.

School Choice: A Reform that Works
American Legislative Exchange Council
Robert C. Enlow and Matt Ladner
January 2005

School choice is an "idea whose time has come," say Robert C. Enlow and Matt Ladner, and ALEC has drawn up six model bills to aid legislators. This report reviews the need for more educational options.

Survey of Arizona Private Schools: Tuition, Testing and Curricula
The Goldwater Institute
Policy Report #199
Vicki Murray and Ross Groen
January 5, 2005

Arizona's growing student population could be better served and taxpayers less burdened if officials took advantage of the potential for collaboration with private schools in the state. Goldwater analysts find that "private schools serve a diverse student population and offer a variety of curricula at roughly half the average public school expenditure."

The Provider's Toolkit for Supplemental Education Services
Supplemental Educational Services Quality Center
December 2004

Supplemental services, or tutoring, has become an important part of American public education due to its role in the federal No Child Left Behind law. This guidebook offers prospective and existing providers a manual for starting and maintaining successful programs.

Park Place School: Mustering Private Resources to Help Struggling Inner-City Children
The Lexington Institute
Robert Holland
December 2004

This study explores the way public-private partnerships can promote the achievement of students with special needs and aid public schools by providing services not available in traditional public schools.

Addition and Subtraction: State and Local Regulatory Obstacles to Opening a New Private School
Reason Foundation
Bahaa Seireg
December 2004

In this study the Reason Foundation evaluates ways in which states nad localities "'shift back' the supply curve, keeping potential entrepreneurs out of the market" of creating new private schools. The report offers ways to "streamline" the approval process.

Where Do Public School Teachers Send Their Kids to School
Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Denis P. Doyle, Brian Diepold, and David A. DeSchryver
September 7, 2004

Since early 1980s, an increasing number of public-school teachers choose to send their children to private schools. Urban public-school teachers are more likely than urban households or the public in general to send their children to private schools (21.5 versus 17.5 percent). As income decreases, a greater percentage of public-school teachers choose private schools.

Private School Myths Dispelled by the Evidence
Fraser Institute
Virginia Gentles
August 2004

This paper from the Fraser Institute rebuffs charges from critics that private schools do not serve Canada's students best.

Special Education Accountability: Structural Reform to Help Charter Schools
Reason Public Policy institute
July 2004
By Lisa Snell

The study examines accountability, provision, and structural barriers to innovation of California special education charter schools and recommends several policy changes to promote innovation and accountability.

Creating Strong Supplemental Services Programs
U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement
May 2004

This report from the Department of Education reviews five districts that have experienced success in implementing the supplemental services provision under No Child Left Behind. The guide also "shares practical ideas from districts around the country that have been learning as they go in the early implementation of SES."

A Tale of Two Systems Delivering Higher Education
Robert Holland
The Lexington Institute
December 2003

Public colleges and universities and their for-profit contemporaries are delivering the same product in two different ways. With the tuition at public institutions of higher education increasing at an exhorbitant rate, taxpayers deserve an explanation--and a way to keep costs down. The Lexington Institute offers an alternative that would put "the for-profits on an equal basis with conventional institutions."

Do Students Have Too Much Homework?
The Brown Center on Education Policy
The Brookings Institution
October 2003

This Brown Center report dispels the myth that all students have too much homework, and this large load of homework is being done at the expense of their childhood. In fact, researchers find, students not only do not have too much homework, but in many cases they do not have enough homework to prepare them for the rigors of college life.

Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States
Jay P. Greene, Ph.D. and Greg Forster, Ph.D.
The Manhattan Institute
Education Working Paper No. 3
September 2003

This evaluation estimates the percentage of students in the public high school class of 2001 who are qualified to attend a four-year institution. The study also rates the states of the U.S. by their public high school graduation rate.

School Choice: State Laws
Education Commission of the States
Updated May 2003

ECS provides a basic grid listing the different states’ levels of school choice including vouchers, tax credits, charter schools, dual enrollment, and public school choice.

Making Sense of the "Public" in Public Education
Frederick Hess
Progressive Policy Institute
November 22, 2002

In education, the line between public and private can be unclear. (Public schools use privatized services for supplying textbooks, busing, or custodial services. Private schools receive public Title I funding to serve poor students.) On the values of public education, the line is no less vague. Both because non-public schools can provide students with an education immersed in “public” values of nondiscrimination and shared values, and because the public schools themselves have instituted inequality at times, Hess argues that we should redefine our conception of “public” education as a matter of outcomes, not structure.

Escaping IDEA: Freeing Parents, Teachers, and Students Through Deregulation and Choice
Marie Gryphon and David Salisbury
Cato Institute
Policy Analysis No. 444
July 10, 2003

Cato policy analysts examine why the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is "arguably the high-water mark of federal control of American education" due to the "complex" process by which the Individual Education Plan is created for each student.   

Taking Account of Accountability
Conference proceedings and presentation of papers
Harvard University Program on Education Policy and Governance
June 10-11, 2002

These papers and discussions address a range of school accountability topics including the relation of testing to educational achievement, the politics of standardized testing, accountability under the No Child Left Behind Act and in charter schools, and specific studies of accountability in California, Chicago and elsewhere.

School Choice vs. School Choice
John C. Goodman and Matt Moore
National Center for Policy Analysis
Policy Backgrounder #155
April 27, 2001

This paper reveals that America’s current school system is unfair, discriminatory and actually limits students’ educational achievement. The paper demonstrates how the system “rations educational choice through the housing market” by way of higher prices, as well as geographic rules and other district policies, denying real options to racial minorities and those who lack the wealth to move nearer to good schools. The authors present evidence that children of immobile, disadvantaged families, who are stuck with what they are given, are condemned to a poorer education primarily because the schools are unresponsive – not because those students are unprepared, as anti-choice advocates contend. The authors consider several alternatives to the current system in detail, and advocate equal access to choice as a means of forcing schools to compete.

2001 Education Freedom Index
Jay P. Greene
Manhattan Institute for Public Policy

The index presents a state's ranking in terms of available options for education. Considerations include (1) the availability of government assistance for private school options, such as vouchers or tax credits; (2) home-schooling options and regulations; (3) options within the public school system; and (4) availability of charter school options and the strength of the charter law.

2000 Education Freedom Index
Jay P. Greene
Manhattan Institute for Public Policy
September 2000

In this report, the Manhattan Institute estimates the extent and nature of education freedom in each state. The study finds that students in states that have higher scores on the Education Freedom Index (EFI) also have higher scores on standardized tests, even after controlling for other demographic and policy factors.

Integration Where It Counts: A Study of Racial Integration in Public and Private School Lunchrooms
Jay P. Greene and Nicole Mellow
Texas Education Review
Spring 2000

Researchers Jay Greene and Nicole Mellow report that their research found that "private schools tend to offer a more racially integrated environment than do public schools." Researchers attribute this finding to the fact that public schools draw their students from the same surrounding neighborhoods, whereas private schools do not.

Comparing Math Scores of Black Students in D.C.'s Public and Catholic Schools
Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
The Heritage Foundation
Center for Data Analysis Report #99-08
October 7, 1999

Recognizing that much of the school choice movement is motivated by perceived superiority in academic achievement in schools of choice, this study examines whether private school students actually outperform public school students. Analyzing Washington DC public and private school students’ scores on the 1996 NAEP test, and controlling for family background to minimize the influence of self-selection on the results, Johnson found that the average private school black student in DC outperformed over 70% of their public counterparts, with the performance gap widening in the higher grades.

To suggest a study be added to this page, send an e-mail to schoolchoice@heritage.org.