School vouchers and academic performance: results from three randomized field trials

  1. William G. Howell1,
  2. Patrick J. Wolf2,
  3. David E. Campbell3,
  4. Paul E. Peterson4

Article first published online: 11 MAR 2002

DOI: 10.1002/pam.10023

Issue

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

Volume 21, Issue 2, pages 191–217, Spring 2002

Additional Information

How to Cite

Howell, W. G., Wolf, P. J., Campbell, D. E. and Peterson, P. E. (2002), School vouchers and academic performance: results from three randomized field trials. J. Pol. Anal. Manage., 21: 191–217. doi: 10.1002/pam.10023

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison

  2. 2

    Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, Washington, DC

  3. 3

    Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

  4. 4

    Program on Education Policy and Governance, J.F.K. School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 11 MAR 2002
  2. Article first published online: 11 MAR 2002
  3. Manuscript Accepted: AUG 2001
  4. Manuscript Revised: JUL 2001
  5. Manuscript Received: FEB 2001

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Abstract

This article examines the effects of school vouchers on student test scores in New York, New York, Dayton, Ohio, and Washington, DC. The evaluations in all three cities are designed as randomized field trials. The findings, therefore, are not confounded by the self-selection problems that pervade most observational data. After 2 years, African Americans who switched from public to private school gained, relative to their public-school peers, an average of 6.3 National Percentile Ranking points in the three cities on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. The gains by city were 4.2 points in New York, 6.5 points in Dayton, and 9.2 points in Washington. Effects for African Americans are statistically significant in all three cities. In no city are statistically significant effects observed for other ethnic groups, after either 1 or 2 years. © 2002 by the Association for Policy Analysis and Management.

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