School choice is winning, and new research indicates that students are winning, too. For America’s students, it’s about time. This year’s latest round of devastating, yet predictable, National Assessment of Educational Progress (the Nation’s Report Card) scores underscore how the traditional public education system can work for some students — the wealthy and privileged, the geographically lucky — while denying the opportunity at a better future to others.
State legislators are moving at breakneck speed to do something different, and for good reason. In Texas, a $1 billion private school choice program — the first in state history and the largest day-one program ever passed — is on the verge of arriving on the governor’s desk. In North Dakota, the state legislature advanced its private school choice program to the governor for consideration. A report released last week affirms that these moves are a clear win for students and a win for the broader education system.
In a large-scale analysis of data from Ohio, respected researchers Matthew Chingos, David Figlio and Krzysztof Karbonwnik examined how Ohio’s EdChoice program affected college enrollment and graduation for students who received school choice scholarships. Their results are stunning and should guide the next generation of policymakers considering bold policies to improve outcomes for students.
Figlio and colleagues found compelling evidence that the program improves long-term educational attainment. In other words, it continued to affect the trajectory of participating students long after they left the halls of their elementary and middle schools. Consider the following findings:
—EdChoice students were 32 percent more likely to enroll in college than their public school peers (64 percent vs. 48 percent).
—Enrollment for EdChoice students at a four-year college outpaced their public school counterparts, 45 percent vs 30 percent.
—Dosage mattered — the longer a student participated in the program, the greater the benefit. Students who remained in the program for at least four years were 44 percent more likely to enroll in college.
It’s not just enrolling in college. The study found that EdChoice students were 60 percent more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than their matched public school peers (23 percent vs. 15 percent). The effects of results like these are difficult to overstate. Particularly for communities that have borne the brunt of a failed education status quo, the program offered a clear alternative that gave these kids an opportunity for a better life.
Contrary to popularized claims that school choice in Ohio hurt students by lowering their test scores, these results reveal the limitations of solely relying on short-run measures to evaluate program success. Until the 2019-20 school year, EdChoice students were mandated to take the state standardized test, which is aligned with state standards. Students were often pulled out of class to complete this requirement separately from non-scholarship students.
Is this the ideal metric by which to evaluate private schools, given curricular differences between school sectors and the differential incentives faced by public and private schools regarding state accountability? The EdChoice students who very likely spent less time on test prep and more time on the core academic skills needed for success in college and beyond would likely say no.
This study suggests there is a disconnect, particularly for the low-income and historically marginalized students who struggle the most in the current education system. For example, male students who used the voucher were 86 percent more likely to graduate from college than their male public school peers (22.5 percent vs. 12.1 percent), while students from the lowest income families who used the voucher were an astounding 175 percent more likely to graduate from college than their low-income public-school peers (16.2 percent vs. 5.9 percent). Black students who used the voucher were more than twice as likely (138 percent) to graduate from college than their Black public school peers (16.9 percent compared to 7.1 percent).
Finally, we have another data point showing that competition from school choice programs is one of the best dollar-for-dollar interventions to improve the nation’s traditional public schools. Public school students in schools facing greater competition saw meaningful gains in college enrollment and graduation rates, with some evidence that they attended more selective institutions, too.
Clearly, there is a long way to go when it comes to righting the ship and getting student trajectories back on the right path. However, this study offers some of the clearest evidence how powerful a tool school choice programs are for achieving this goal. Policymakers should pay attention.
Although more than 30 states have passed school choice programs, dozens only offer highly limited or nonexistent school choice. A bill in Congress, the Educational Choice for Children Act, would change that, and it has its best shot of becoming reality as part of Congress’s reconciliation negotiations.
Over recent years, it’s become almost trite to solemnly discuss another round of devastating test scores, another data point showing systemic failure and lives left behind. It’s time for action. We know giving parents a choice improves educational outcomes, so lawmakers must listen. State legislators nationwide and leaders in Congress should follow the research and advance this data-driven tool for improving America’s broken schools. Our students deserve nothing less.
