ERIC Number: ED501697
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Jun
Pages: 19
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts after Two Years. Executive Summary. NCEE 2008-4024
Wolf, Patrick; Gutmann, Babette; Puma, Michael; Kisida, Brian; Rizzo, Lou; Eissa, Nada
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
As part of the "District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act of 2003" Congress mandated evaluation of this first federally funded, private school voucher program in the United States (now called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). This report presents findings from the evaluation on the impacts 2 years after families who applied were given the option to move from a public school to a participating private school of their choice. The evaluation is based on a randomized controlled trial design that compares the outcomes of eligible applicants randomly assigned to receive or not receive a scholarship through a series of lotteries. Primary findings to date: (1) After 2 years, there was no statistically significant difference in test scores in general between students who were offered an OSP scholarship and students who were not offered a scholarship; (2) OSP had a positive impact on overall parent satisfaction and parent perceptions of school safety, but not on students' reports of satisfaction and safety; (3) This same pattern of findings holds when the analysis is conducted to determine the impact of using a scholarship rather than being offered a scholarship; (4) There were some impacts on subgroups of students, but adjustments for multiple comparisons indicate that these findings may be due to chance; and (5) Second year impacts are generally consistent with those from the first year. (Contains 8 footnotes, 2 figures, and 5 tables.) [For full report, see ED501696.]
Descriptors: Private Schools, School Safety, School Choice, Program Effectiveness, Scholarships, Educational Vouchers, Scores, Satisfaction, Conflict of Interest, Control Groups, Perception, Academic Achievement, Mathematics Achievement, Reading Achievement, Tuition, Elementary Secondary Education, School Involvement, Student Participation, Educational Environment
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Available from: ED Pubs. P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Tel: 877-433-7827; Web site: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Institute of Education Sciences (ED), National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
Identifiers - Location: District of Columbia
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Stanford Achievement Tests
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
IES Publication: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20084023/