This paper presents empirical evidence on kindergarten admission preparation services in Hong Kong. Parents increasingly turn to tutoring companies for a range of services, such as social skills training, portfolio editing, mock interviews, and parental consultation. We used qualitative methods to capture the views of parents, teachers, tutors,…

In school choice systems, many families face geographic constraints. Yet, there is limited evidence on the association between school-based transportation and students' school choice, especially in fragmented transportation contexts. Using unique data on Detroit kindergarten students' eligibility and access to school-based transportation, we find…

Background/Context: Over the past five decades, policymakers have introduced Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programs in education as a reform in the presence of "government failure," aiming to increase the freedom of school choice, educational productive efficiency, and social equity. While the evidence regarding charters in US is…

This study examines the value priorities of Chinese parents regarding their children's education in globally competitive context. Although Chinese parents are often viewed as being excessively controlling of their children and preoccupied with their academic performance, research indicates that contemporary Chinese families hold diverse beliefs…

We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of providing information to families as they choose schools. Likely applicants to prekindergarten, kindergarten, and ninth grade were assigned to one of three groups. A "growth" group received lists (via U.S. mail, email, and text message) of the highest performing schools…

This is the second in a series of briefs examining student access to Houston Independent School District (HISD) pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs. The current study examined strategies for increasing access to pre-k in HISD, including the intended and unintended consequences of zoning pre-k using existing elementary school zones. We found that…

This article presents a meta-ethnography (Urrieta Jr and Noblit (eds), Cultural constructions of identity: meta ethnography and theory, Oxford University Press. 2018. https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1093/oso/9780190676087.001.0001) of school choice across education sectors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. A site of intense contention and experimentation around…

Catholic schools have seen more than a 30% decline in enrollment over the past 20 years. While some of the decline in enrollment may have been spurred by secular trends or the Church abuse scandal, the increase in schools of choice, principally public charter schools, may explain at least some of this decline. In this paper we estimate the effect…

In the last decade, the number of public school students in the United States experiencing homelessness has more than doubled. Research shows that school enrollment processes are particularly onerous for families experiencing homelessness; yet, school choice and enrollment policies are rarely designed with the type of flexibility needed to be…

This community-based participatory research study examined the perspectives of parent participants in an organized parent network in Detroit seeking the best school options for their children entering Kindergarten within city boundaries. Their residency and school choices have emerged against the grain of public schools that have racially charged…

From an analysis of 40 private educational choice programs in 19 states plus D.C., this report summarizes the facts and the evidence on the fiscal effects of educational choice programs across the United States. The programs in the analysis include 3 education savings accounts programs, 19 school voucher programs, and 18 tax-credit scholarship…

Chile is known for universal school choice policies and a high level of economic segregation. In part, segregation has been linked to selective school admission policies. Chile implemented a centralized school admission system (New School Admission System), where PK-12 schools must accept any applicant, and lottery assignment is used for…

How are patterns of segregation related to families' engagement in public-school choice policies across U.S. metropolitan areas? This article examines how segregation in urban public schools and the spatial mismatch between school-age children and relatively high-performing schools relate to the shares of Black, Hispanic, and White students…

I calculate the cost-effectiveness of private schools participating in school voucher programs, independent charter schools, and district-authorized charter schools, compared to traditional public schools in Wisconsin for the 2017-18 school year. I calculate cost-effectiveness by dividing the Accountability Report Card score for each school by the…

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically disrupted the functioning of U.S. public schools, potentially changing the relative appeal of alternatives such as homeschooling and private schools. We study changes in families' choices of school sector using longitudinal student-level administrative data from Michigan and nationally representative data from the…