ED466472 - The Effects of Vouchers on School Improvement: Another Look at the Florida Data. CSE Technical Report - ERIC-ED466472 | Content Details

ED466472 - The Effects of Vouchers on School Improvement: Another Look at the Florida Data. CSE Technical Report

Source Institution: California Univ., Los Angeles. Center for the Study of Evaluation.; National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, Los Angeles, CA

Sponsoring Agency: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC

Subject: Academic Achievement, Accountability, Achievement Gains, Educational Vouchers, Elementary Secondary Education, Mathematics Achievement, Reading Achievement, School Choice, State Programs, Testing Programs, Writing Achievement

Abstract: This report reanalyzes test score data from Florida public schools in the context of determining the effects of vouchers on student performance. In response to a recent report from the Manhattan Institute, An Evaluation of the Florida A-Plus Accountability and School Choice Program, by J. P. Greene, 2001, it offers a different perspective and an alternative explanation for the pattern of test score improvements among low-scoring schools in Florida. Greene concluded that the most plausible interpretation of the evidence is that the Florida A-Plus system relies on a valid system of testing and produces the desired incentives to failing schools to improve their performance. This analysis disagrees with this conclusion. The evidence suggests that the voucher effect follows different patterns in the three tested subject areas: reading, mathematics, and writing. The most dramatic improvements in failing schools were realized by targeting and achieving a minimum passing score on the writing test, thereby escaping the threat of losing their students to vouchers.