This brief paper is a response to a reanalysis (Krueger & Zhu, 2003) of a report (Mayer, Peterson, Myers, Tuttle, & Howell, 2002). The response is offered by two of the authors (Myers & Mayer) of the original report. The original report presented an evaluation of the impact of vouchers on students' reading and mathematics achievement…

This research brief recaps a study of California charter schools. After a discussion of the key distinctions among charter schools, the brief focuses on the following questions: (1) Who attends charter schools? (2) How does student achievement in charter schools compare with that in conventional public schools? (3) What oversight do chartering…

This study examined the effects on special education enrollment of state funding systems and high stakes testing. The study evaluated special and general education enrollment for each of the school years 1991-92 through 2000-01. Data were also collected on high stakes testing in each state and on funding systems, including the common bounty system…

Among the major concerns surrounding school-choice programs is their potential to stratify students along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic class. The latest among four U.S. Department of Education national evaluations of charter schools reports no evidence that charter schools are predominantly white or that they segregate…

This paper focuses on school reform in England and in particular on the attempts to increase diversity and choice through specialist schools. It examines the extent to which diversity and choice have been introduced into the state (public) education system and then presents key findings to emerge from an evaluation of the flagship government…

This telephone survey examined the early childhood education (ECE) experiences, home experiences, and home resources of near-5-year-olds in New Zealand, as identified by their parents. Participating were 767 New Zealand families in Wellington and Porirua, a sample selected to be comparable to those selected in other longitudinal studies. The main…

Two articles deal with educational advocacy for students with disabilities. The first article discusses aspects of the new Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1997). The second article discusses the U.S. Supreme Court decision (1997) to allow Title I services in religious schools, asking whether this decision opens the door to vouchers.…

Two federal statutes govern the provisions for special education in public schools. Briefly describes these laws and some of the challenges to their compliance within the school choice context. Describes and analyzes four case studies representing four types of school choice plans currently in operation. Offers recommendations for policymakers.…

Presents responses of seven U.S. business leaders (G. Ball, J. Hume, S. Ingram, D. Kearns, T. Peters, D. Roberts, and T. Roeser) to questions about the six national goals for elementary education and secondary education by the year 2000. Highlights enhanced accountability, educational vouchers, structural reform, and resource allocation. (JB)

Explores elements of the design of school choice programs, defining outcomes and technical criteria. These criteria are applied to failed choice initiatives in three states and to a proposed initiative in California, the Parents' Choice in Education Amendment. Differential effects in urban and suburban schools are considered. (SLD)

Explains how careful planning can contribute to the success of controlled choice desegregation plans, using the approach developed in four Massachusetts communities. In this model, genuine collaborative planning involves every segment of the community. Surveys of parents, teachers, and principals provide necessary information for planning. (SLD)

Studies how an urban school, the George A. Lewis Middle School, of the Roxbury section of Boston (Massachusetts) is changing its reputation. Under the process of controlled choice, the school is an example of how teacher professionalization can be a force for overall school improvement. (SLD)

Describes the role of parent information centers in the school selection process, drawing on experiences with six Massachusetts information centers. In spite of insufficient funding and overwhelming work loads, these centers are providing valuable information to help parental school choice and to promote parent participation in school decision…

Challenges the following assumptions: (1) parental choice will motivate schools to improve programs to compete more effectively for students; (2) private not-for-profit schools will respond to marketplace incentives; (3) research indicates an advantage of private over public organizations; (4) public choice theory promotes school improvement; and…

Arguments for school vouchers are beginning to have a cumulative effect with gains in a number of states. The political power that holds Washington to the public school orthodoxy is weakening before state movements toward public school choice and charter schools. (SLD)