Free to Choose: Can School Choice Reduce Student Achievement? Revised. NBER Working Paper No. 21839

Autor/inn/en	Abdulkadiroglu, Atila; Pathak, Parag A.; Walters, Christopher R.
Institution	National Bureau of Economic Research
Titel	Free to Choose: Can School Choice Reduce Student Achievement? Revised. NBER Working Paper No. 21839
Quelle	(2016), (44 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	School Choice; Scholarships; Educational Vouchers; Student Financial Aid; Disadvantaged Youth; Low Income Students; Private Schools; Program Effectiveness; Academic Achievement; Scores; Tuition; Mathematics Achievement; Reading Achievement; Social Studies; Science Achievement; Educational Quality; Elementary Secondary Education; Louisiana + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Choice of school; Schulwahl; Scholarship; Stipendium; Educational voucher; Bildungsgutschein; Finanzielle Beihilfe; Studienfinanzierung; Studienförderung; Benachteiligter Jugendlicher; Private school; Privatschule; Schulleistung; Unterweisung; Unterricht; Mathmatics sikills; Mathmatics achievement; Mathematical ability; Mathematische Kompetenz; Leseleistung; Gemeinschaftskunde; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität
Abstract	A central argument for school choice is that families value the freedom to exercise choice and can make wise decisions. This principle may underlie why lottery-based school evaluations, which exploit over-subscription due to excess demand, have almost always reported positive or zero achievement effects. This paper reports on a striking empirical counterexample to these results. We evaluate the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP), a school voucher plan providing public funds for disadvantaged students to attend private schools of their choice. We exploit random assignment of LSP vouchers at oversubscribed private schools to estimate the program's effects on test scores. LSP participation substantially reduces academic achievement: attendance at an LSP-eligible private school lowers math scores by 0.4 standard deviations and increases the likelihood of a failing math score by 50 percent. Voucher effects for reading, science and social studies are also negative and large. Participating private schools charge below-average tuition, and the program's negative math effects are concentrated among participating schools with lower tuition. Negative voucher effects may be due in part to selection of low-quality private schools into the program. [Original report was published in December 2015. This report was previously circulated as "School Vouchers and Student Achievement: First-Year Evidence from the Louisiana Scholarship Program."] (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01