The Competitive Effects of School Choice on Student Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• In Event: 32.049 - New Perspectives on Competition in Schools

Abstract

Overview & Background/Literature:
A growing body of work examines whether competition between schools improves student outcomes (e.g., Bettinger, 2005; Bifulco & Ladd, 2006; Carr & Ritter, 2007; Hoxby, 2002; Imberman, 2011; Ni, 2009; Sass, 2006; Zimmer & Buddin, 2009). Despite strong theoretical claims about the power of competition to improve schools, the research has produced mixed findings. Some studies find positive effects, others find no or negative effects of competition on various outcomes (Belfield & Levin, 2002; Ni & Arsen, 2010). However, there is a great deal of variation in study methods and measures of competition used to examine competitive effects (Belfield & Levin, 2002; Egalite, 2013; Linick, 2014).

To make sense of the evidence, a systematic review and meta-analysis is needed. Our meta-analysis explores the empirical literature on the competitive effects of school choice (vouchers, charter schools) on student outcomes, focusing on studies that include an explicit measure of competition, on a range of student outcomes. We ask: Does competition between schools affect student academic achievement, attendance, or graduation rates? What is the magnitude and variability of these effects? We also examine key moderators of the competitive effects, which are important to understand not only how competitive effects operate, but also in which settings/contexts they are more impactful.

Data & Methods:
We included all empirical quantitative study designs that have an explicit measure of competition and use real-world data, including peer-reviewed articles, policy reports, dissertation, etc. While we will discuss the implications of the study design for the effects found, we included a broad range of designs to be as comprehensive as possible in our review. We were cognizant of the various designs and models used in the literature base and used appropriate conversion formulae and aggregated studies according to design when needed (Becker & Wu, 2007). We conducted a wide search of electronic databases with variants of the search term “school competition.” Our first priority was to update the most recent systematic review of the evidence on both charter school and voucher competition (Belfield & Levin, 2002), with a focus on U.S. schools and impacts on student achievement. Therefore, we examined studies published since 2001.

Findings:
We identified a total of 53 studies from 2001 to 2015 that were included in the systematic review. We extracted 3960 effect sizes examining the relationship between school competition and student achievement. There were 1,653 negative effect sizes, 2,170 positive effect sizes, and 137 effect sizes representing no relationship. Due to space restrictions, further meta-analytic findings and moderator analyses will be presented in the session.

Significance to the Field:
Our review will be a useful guide to policymakers making decisions about whether to implement or expand school-choice policies by exploring a key assumption made by choice advocates. By describing how competitive effects vary by context or setting, policymakers have an opportunity to see how choice impact districts or states similar to their own, providing more nuanced information upon which to base decisions.

Authors

• Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas - Austin

• Carlton J. Fong, Texas State University

• Emily Germain, The University of Texas - Austin

• DongMei Li

• Joanna Dolores Sanchez, Howard University

• Wei-Ling Sun, The University of Texas - Austin

• Michelle DeVall, Del Valle Independent School District