This report examines the short-term effects of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) on students' non-cognitive skills and civic values. While a growing number of studies have evaluated K-12 school voucher programs along academic dimensions, few have focused on the development of non-cognitive skills and civic values. This study aims to address…

The authors expand on research evaluating public school response to school choice policies by considering the particular influence of voucher programs for disabled students--a growing type of choice program that may have different implications for public school systems from those of more conventional choice programs. The authors provide a…

The big battles over school vouchers in American education have focused on programs serving low-income children who live in urban areas. Milwaukee's program, begun in 1990, is the biggest and oldest in the country, and the District of Columbia effort, funded by the federal government, has been the most carefully studied. Both have been focal…

In the last three decades, special-education programs in the United States have grown at a tremendous pace. Much of this growth reflects a growing incidence of students diagnosed with the mildest form of learning disability, called a Specific Learning Disability (SLD), and thus the hardest to distinguish from an ordinary cognitive deficit. Between…

In this paper, the authors estimate the effect of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP, or the Milwaukee voucher program) on integration in public and private schools. Their first question is straightforward: Do the student bodies at private schools participating in MPCP have a racial composition that more closely or less closely resembles…

This study evaluates the initial effect of Washington, DC's Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) on the academic performance of public schools and its effects on the opportunities that District students have to attend integrated schools. The OSP is a federally sponsored school voucher program that provides vouchers worth up to $7,500 for an…

This paper evaluates the impact of exposure to a voucher program for disabled students in Florida on the academic performance of disabled students who remain in the public school system. The authors utilize student-level data on the universe of public school students in the state of Florida from 2000-01 through 2004-05 to study the effect of the…

Discusses whether accountability testing improves public schools. Uses Florida's A+ program, which makes vouchers available to students attending low-performing schools, as evidence that it does. Examines and evaluates current research into testing and accountability systems. Analyzes Florida program; argues evidence suggests accountability…

This document is a review of eight studies of five existing voucher or school-choice programs conducted by four different groups of researchers. All studies have found important benefits of private school choice for families. Voucher programs do not appear to select primarily the best students. In all studies of existing choice programs the…

This paper reports on an evaluation of Florida's McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities, which makes a school voucher available to any special education student. The program currently serves 9,202 students out of 375,000 eligible special education students. Based on two telephone surveys (one of parents currently using a McKay…

This paper examines evidence on the "systemic effects" of expanding school choice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee is home to one of the nation's largest and longest-running school choice programs. If there are systemic effects from expanding school choice we should be able to see them in Milwaukee. This paper also introduces a novel…

This report describes the results of an institutional analysis that examined the effects of the CEO Horizon Scholarship Program on schools in San Antonio, Texas. The scholarship program offered virtually all families in the school district a scholarship to send their children to the school of their choice, both public and private. The analysis is…

The Cleveland Scholarship Program (CSP), Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the school choice options available to families in the city. This report provides a snapshot of the CSP at the start of the 1999-2000 school year. Despite the claims of critics, the CSP contributes to racial integration in the city by providing families with access to private…

Presents data from evaluations of school voucher programs in four cities, analyzing the effects on academic performance of switching from public to private schools. Overall, vouchers have a moderately large, positive effect on the achievement of African American students, but no discernable effect on the performance of students of other…

Discusses whether school choice benefits students who do and do not receive vouchers, noting how choice affects integration and democratic ideals. Overall, there are important benefits for families participating in choice programs. Choice does not cream off the best students. Educational vouchers may influence public schools to improve. Private…