Once again, research shows school choice helps to improve public schools, too!
So we’ve all heard the opposition’s argument about how school choice will hurt public schools. Unfortunately for them, time and time again, the evidence proves just the opposite- showing that choice actually helps public schools improve.
The latest study of Ohio’s EdChoice program has found that once again, public schools in areas participating in school choice programs, have improved as a result of the competition.
“This suggests that, far from harming students in public schools, scholarship programs like EdChoice can actually spur improvements in student learning for those students who remain in the low-performing public schools.”
The study, conducted by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, found many encouraging results of the newly implemented Ohio school choice program:
– In 2006-07, its first year of operation, the EdChoice program produced some academic improvements in Ohio’s most stubbornly underperforming public schools. Positive effects were detected in three grades, and no negative effects were detected in any of the other seven grades studied.
– The positive effects were substantial in size, though not revolutionary. If the effects accumulate over time, in three to four years the public schools studied will have improved by one standard deviation (equal to one-sixth of the distance between the top-scoring and bottom-scoring schools in Ohio).
– The EdChoice program was more restricted in its first year of operation than it is today. Since previous research suggests that the positive impact of vouchers on public schools increases when the programs grow, it is reasonable to expect that the program’s current benefits probably exceed those detected in this study.
UPDATE: Club for Growth also notes these (not so surprising) results on their blog. You can view the full report from the Friedman Foundation online.
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[...] Last month we noted the latest findings by the Friedman Foundation’s study of Ohio’s EdChoice program, which found empirical evidence that the choice program was benefitting students as well as public schools. [...]