The goal of the school choice movement is to allow parents to decide which of the increasing options—from traditional public and private schools and charter and magnet schools to vouchers and tax credits—will best meet their children's educational needs. RAND's analyses consider the role of choice-based school reform in shaping education policy.
MULTIMEDIA
In this Resilient Communities podcast, Jennifer Steele discusses the differences in policies and practices between charter and traditional schools in New Orleans, where charter-based reform spread in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
REPORT
Hurricane Katrina set the stage for a transformation of public education in New Orleans, replacing the city's existing school system with a decentralized choice-based system of both charter and district-run schools. Using principal, teacher, and parent surveys administered three years after Katrina, this study examined schools' governance and operations, educational contexts, educator quality and mobility, and parental choice and…
RESEARCH BRIEF
RAND researchers found many similarities between charter and traditional schools in New Orleans but greater satisfaction among charter school parents with their children's schools, as well as more perceived choices.
REPORT
In 2008, the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation created the Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program, a pilot program to provide families with scholarships to cover the cost of high-quality early childhood education (ECE) programs. This report provides detailed cost and program data for a sample of 12 ECE programs participating in the scholarship program, including the per-child per-hour cost for participation of children in the…
RESEARCH BRIEF
Shares results of a RAND analysis of programs participating in Minnesota's Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to cover the cost of high-quality early childhood education programs.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
In this article, the author examines two school districts that are highly decentralized to understand the central-office roles: (1) Edmonton, Canada; and (2) Lake Wales Charter Schools District in central Florida.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
It is unclear if vouchers increase educational productivity or are purely redistributive, benefiting recipients by giving them access to more desirable peers at others' expense. To examine this, the authors study an educational voucher programme in Colombia which allocated vouchers by lottery.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Charter schools are increasing in numbers as alternatives to traditional public schools, and research shows some associated positive effects on student attainment. RAND recommends that the federal government support further investigation.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Only a small percentage of eligible students elect to switch to better-performing schools under the No Child Left Behind Act. RAND recommends policy actions and investments to increase the percentage of families who exercise the school choice option.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Charter schools do not generally draw the top students from other public schools. Their test-score gains are similar to those of traditional public schools, but they have higher rates of students graduating high school and attending college.
NEWS RELEASE
While the number of charter schools continues to grow, debate continues about whether charter schools provide a better education experience than traditional public schools. Proponents contend that charter schools expand educational choices for students, improve student achievement and provide much-needed competition to public schools.
REPORT
Along with the growth of the charter school movement has come contentious debate about its effects on both charter students and those in nearby traditional public schools. This study helps determine why previous research has drawn differing conclusions through its examination of charter schools' effect on overall educational attainment.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
A key aim of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is to provide school choice or supplemental educational services to predominantly low-income parents whose children are attending Title I schools identified for improvement, but in recent years only a small fraction of families have taken advantage of these options.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Although the availability of No Child Left Behind public school choice and supplemental educational options continues to expand for students in underperforming schools, only a small percentage of eligible students participate in these programs.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
This chapter presents evidence on the impact of a voucher program implemented in 1991 in Colombia. Specifically, the analysis is centered on the mechanism by which the program increased learning outcomes.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
This chapter examines the history and role of Education Management Organizations (EMOs) in the United States, focusing on two prominent cases: Edison Schools, the largest EMO the country has seen; and Philadelphia, which became the site of the nation's largest experiment in private management of public schools in the wake of a state takeover of the district in 2002.
NEWS RELEASE
Chicago's multi-grade charter high schools (those serving students in grades 7-12, 6-12 or K-12) appear to improve their students' chances of graduating and attending college, as compared with the city's traditional public high schools.
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