The Role of Schools in Publicly Funded Voucher Programs: Early Implementation Experiences

• In Event: School Voucher Policy and Implementation: Lessons From Indiana and Tennessee

Abstract

Objectives

The goal of this study is to understand how schools respond to publicly-funded voucher programs. Using data on the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (ICSP), I examine how schools shape the educational opportunities available to voucher students. The paper answers the following research question: How do school organizational characteristics affect schools’ experiences of and responses to school-level changes that result from participating in a publicly-funded voucher program?

Theoretical Framework

Voucher programs, designed to help students move out of one school and into another, are based on the assumption that changing which schools students attend will change their academic outcomes (e.g., Chubb & Moe, 1990; Howell and Peterson, 2006). The implication is that school organization and school context matter. Despite the important role of schools, there is little research on how voucher programs function at the school level (Figlio, 2009). Variation in the organizational contexts of choice schools may lead to variation in educational gains among students who enter different schools (Bryk et al., 2010). Additionally, school effects may change as schools begin participating in a voucher program, and schools’ different adaptations to change may further alter voucher students’ educational outcomes.

Data & Methods

Quantitative data were collected via web-based surveys sent to all Indiana private school principals whose schools were ICSP-eligible. Qualitative data come from in-person interviews with fourteen principals of participating private schools. Schools were purposively sampled to maximize diversity on relevant school characteristics, such as grades served, financial stability, and student population prior to voucher participation.

Schools’ likelihood of experiencing changes as a result of participation was estimated using ordered logistic regression. Qualitative analysis of the principal interviews provided additional information on schools’ experiences in the first year of participation and responses to voucher-related change (see Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 2011).

Results & Scholarly Significance

Participating schools that experienced increased discipline problems were more likely to report increasing resources devoted to standardized test preparation and remediation. School culture and discipline changes were both associated with schools’ experiencing a wider range of academic ability; however, schools administering their own admissions tests were less likely to experience a wider range of academic ability.

The number of voucher students accepted was not related to schools’ likelihood of experiencing changes, because the compositions of schools accepting the greatest number of students were demographically similar to incoming voucher students. Regardless of school demographics, the majority of principals reported that voucher students were unprepared for the academic and homework expectations. Schools responded in varied ways, with remedial courses, parent outreach, and/or programs to help students adapt to school expectations.

Despite decades of research on voucher effects, findings remain mixed. This study takes a different approach to the question of voucher program effectiveness by considering the role of schools in shaping the number, type, and quality of schools available to students receiving vouchers. Understanding how participating in a voucher program changes schools in ways that matter for student achievement is essential for researchers measuring voucher effectiveness, policymakers drafting new voucher programs, and practitioners serving voucher students.

Author

• Megan J. Austin, University of Notre Dame