Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 30 of 35
Full-Text Articles in Education
Volunteering And Charitable Giving Among Australian Young Adults And The Mediating Role Of Community Service Emphasis In Secondary Schools, Albert Cheng, Rian R. Djita
Volunteering And Charitable Giving Among Australian Young Adults And The Mediating Role Of Community Service Emphasis In Secondary Schools, Albert Cheng, Rian R. Djita
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Schools play a vital role in sustaining civil society by tending to the civic formation of their students. Prior research has focused on assessing students on a variety of civic outcomes including volunteering and charitable giving, and often compares students in Government, religious Independent, and non-religious Independent schools. However, this work has mostly been conducted in North American contexts. Nor has much attention been given to developing theory and then empirically testing mediating variables that explain any observed differences across these schooling sectors. We fill these gaps in this study. Using a nationally representative sample of 4,000 Australian adults, we …
Heterogeneous Impacts Across Schools In The First Four Years Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program, Patrick J. Wolf
Heterogeneous Impacts Across Schools In The First Four Years Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) is a school voucher initiative that offers publicly- funded scholarships to students from economically-disadvantaged families to attend a participating private school of their choice. While school choice theory suggests that market- based reforms such as the LSP should improve student outcomes, experimental evaluations of the program instead find significant negative effects of the program on math and reading scores after its first year. Those effects diminish to insignificant differences by the end of the third year before becoming negative again in the fourth year. Our study builds on previous work with an exploratory analysis of …
Do You Get Cream With Your Choice? Characteristics Of Students Who Moved Into Or Out Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program, Yujie Sude, Patrick J. Wolf
Do You Get Cream With Your Choice? Characteristics Of Students Who Moved Into Or Out Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program, Yujie Sude, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Private school choice programs often are accused of failing to serve disadvantaged students. Critics claim that participating private schools “skim the cream off the top” by admitting only the best students and “push out” students who are the most difficult to teach. This study tests these student selection hypotheses in the context of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP). We find LSP applicants are less advantaged than their public school peers regarding their family socioeconomic status and initial test scores. No consistent evidence indicates that the LSP private schools are “skimming the cream” or “pushing out” students based on their family …
The Effects Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program On Student Achievement After Four Years, Jonathan Mills, Patrick J. Wolf
The Effects Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program On Student Achievement After Four Years, Jonathan Mills, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) offers publicly-funded vouchers to students in low-performing schools with family income no greater than 250 percent of the poverty line, allowing them to enroll in participating private schools. Established in 2008 as a pilot program in New Orleans, the LSP was expanded statewide in 2012. In this study, we estimate the achievement impacts of ever using an LSP voucher to enroll in one’s first-choice private school over the four year period spanning from 2012-13 (Year 1) through 2015-16 (Year 4). In contrast to our previous research, which indicated large initial negative achievement effects of the …
The Effect Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program On College Entrance, Heidi Holmes Erickson, Jonathan Mills, Patrick J. Wolf
The Effect Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program On College Entrance, Heidi Holmes Erickson, Jonathan Mills, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) is a private school voucher program available to families who have incomes no greater than 250 percent of the federal poverty line and whose children attend a low performing public school. It began as a pilot program in New Orleans in 2008 and was expanded statewide in 2012. Previous evaluations of the LSP generally found negative impacts of the program on math and English language arts test scores. In this study, we evaluate the effects of the program on college enrollment for the first cohort of students eligible to enter college by 2017-18. Using lottery …
A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity Of Public Charter Schools In Eight U.S. Cities, Corey Deangelis, Patrick J, Wolf, Larry Maloney, Jay May
A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity Of Public Charter Schools In Eight U.S. Cities, Corey Deangelis, Patrick J, Wolf, Larry Maloney, Jay May
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
In 2015-16, the United states spent over $660 billion on its public education system in hopes of providing children with greater opportunities to excel academically and to improve their life trajectories. While public education dollars have risen at a relatively fast pace historically, future challenges, including underfunded pension liabilities, suggest policymakers should economize wherever possible. Meanwhile, the number of public charter schools has increased exponentially. from 1991 to 2018, charter school legislation passed in 44 states and the nation’s capital, and student enrollment in charters increased to around 3.2 million. Since educational resources are limited, we examine which types of …
The Effects Of Regulations On Private School Choice Program Participation: Experimental Evidence From California And New York, Corey Deangelis, Lindsey Burke, Patrick J. Wolf
The Effects Of Regulations On Private School Choice Program Participation: Experimental Evidence From California And New York, Corey Deangelis, Lindsey Burke, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Although private school voucher programs provide subsidies to students for tuition and other education-related costs, private school leaders weigh program participation against any associated regulatory costs. The higher the regulatory costs of participation, the less likely a private school is to participate in a school voucher program. Since we do not know with certainty which regulations will be viewed by school leaders as more or less costly, we explore whether specific regulations that are common to private school choice programs do or do not deter likely voucher program participation.
We use surveys to randomly assign different regulations to 4,825 private …
Private School Choice And Character: More Evidence From Milwaukee, Corey Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf
Private School Choice And Character: More Evidence From Milwaukee, Corey Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
We examine the effects of Milwaukee’s school voucher program on adult criminal activity and paternity suits. Using matched student-level data, we find that exposure to the program in 8th or 9th grade predicts lower rates of conviction for criminal activity and lower rates of paternity suits by ages 25 to 28. Specifically, exposure to the MPCP is associated with a reduction of around 53 percent in drug convictions, 86 percent in property damage convictions, and 38 percent in paternity suits. The program effects tend to be largest for males and students with lower levels of academic achievement at baseline.
The Effects Of Regulations On Private School Choice Program Participation: Experimental Evidence From Florida, Corey Deangelis, Lindsey Burke, Patrick Wolf
The Effects Of Regulations On Private School Choice Program Participation: Experimental Evidence From Florida, Corey Deangelis, Lindsey Burke, Patrick Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
When deciding whether to participate in a private school choice program, private school leaders weigh additional financial benefits against additional regulatory costs. In theory, raising the costs associated with entering private school choice programs should reduce the likelihood that individual schools participate in those programs. However, very little empirical evidence exists evaluating this idea. While a few studies suggest that more highly regulated programs are correlated with lower levels of school participation, none have established causal relationships between these factors, and none have determined which program regulations are the most costly. Because it is nearly impossible to randomly assign program …
Will Democracy Endure Private School Choice? The Effect Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program On Adult Voting Behavior, Corey Deangelis, Patrick Wolf
Will Democracy Endure Private School Choice? The Effect Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program On Adult Voting Behavior, Corey Deangelis, Patrick Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
We employ probit regression analysis to compare the adult voting activity of students who participated in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) to their matched public school counterparts. We use a sophisticated matching algorithm to create a traditional public school student comparison group using data from the state-mandated evaluation of the MPCP. By the time the students are 19-26 years old, we do not find evidence that private school voucher students are more or less likely to vote in 2012 or 2016 than students educated in public schools. These results are robust to all models and are consistent for all …
Bigger Bang, Fewer Bucks? The Productivity Of Public Charter Schools In Eight U.S. Cities, Corey Deangelis, Patrick Wolf, Larry Maloney, Jay May
Bigger Bang, Fewer Bucks? The Productivity Of Public Charter Schools In Eight U.S. Cities, Corey Deangelis, Patrick Wolf, Larry Maloney, Jay May
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
We examine the differences in cost-effectiveness and return-on-investment (ROI) for public charter schools and traditional public schools (TPS) in eight major cities in the United States. The cities are Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, New York City, San Antonio, and the District of Columbia. We utilize data on how much money is invested in public charter schools and TPS, what levels of student achievement are attained across the two public school sectors, and how much economic payoff our society can expect to receive as a result of the educational investments in each sector. Ours is the first study to examine …
Does Private Islamic Schooling Promote Terrorism? An Analysis Of The Educational Background Of Successful American Homegrown Terrorists, M. Danish Shakeel, Patrick Wolf
Does Private Islamic Schooling Promote Terrorism? An Analysis Of The Educational Background Of Successful American Homegrown Terrorists, M. Danish Shakeel, Patrick Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Some commentators argue that private religious schools are less likely to inculcate the attributes of good citizenship than traditional public schools, specifically proposing that private Islamic schools are relatively more likely to produce individuals sympathetic to terrorism. This study offers a preliminary examination of the question by studying the educational backgrounds of Western educated terrorists. While data are limited, in accord with prior work findings indicate the vast majority of both Islamic and reactionary terrorists attended traditional public schools and had no religious education; hence findings suggest that early religious training and identification may actually encourage prosocial behavior.
Silencing The Seventh Trumpet: Analyzing The Effect Of Private Schooling On Voting Behavior, Ian Kingsbury
Silencing The Seventh Trumpet: Analyzing The Effect Of Private Schooling On Voting Behavior, Ian Kingsbury
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
The United States has one of the lowest election turnout rates in the developed world. Consequently, social scientists are perpetually seeking to expand upon their knowledge of what factors are associated with voting, or the lack thereof. Commonly identified factors including age, income, educational attainment and race have been studied extensively. However, there is one plausible factor associated with voting that might be underappreciated: the effect of private schooling. The limited literature that exists on the topic suggests that private schools, the majority of them Catholic, have a positive effect on civic outcomes, including voter participation. In using a rich, …
Does Private Schooling Improve International Test Scores? Evidence From A Natural Experiment, Corey A. Deangelis
Does Private Schooling Improve International Test Scores? Evidence From A Natural Experiment, Corey A. Deangelis
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
I estimate the effect of private schooling on Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores of 62 countries across the globe from 2000 to 2012. I employ time and country-fixed effects regression models and also use the short-run demand for schooling within a country and year as an instrument for private share of schooling enrollment. I find evidence to suggest that increased private schooling leads to improved PISA scores around the world. Specifically, the model using control variables alongside country and year fixed effects finds that a one percentage point increase in the private share of schooling enrollment is associated …
What Leads To Successful School Choice Programs? A Review Of The Theories And Evidence, Corey A. Deangelis, Heidi Holmes Erickson
What Leads To Successful School Choice Programs? A Review Of The Theories And Evidence, Corey A. Deangelis, Heidi Holmes Erickson
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
There is a large body of thorough research showing many positive benefits of school choice. However, many questions remain on how school choice works. Rigorous school choice experiments can only determine if access to school choice programs alters student outcomes; they cannot confidently identify the specific mechanisms that mediate various outcomes. Two commonly theorized mechanisms in school choice programs that lead to positive outcomes are (1) an increased access to higher-quality schools and (2) an improved match between schools and students. We examine the existing empirical evidence and the theoretical arguments for these two primary mechanisms. While there is evidence …
Does Regulation Induce Homogenization? An Analysis Of Three Voucher Programs In The United States, Corey A. Deangelis, Lindsey Burke
Does Regulation Induce Homogenization? An Analysis Of Three Voucher Programs In The United States, Corey A. Deangelis, Lindsey Burke
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
We employ school and year fixed-effects regression to determine the effect of voucher programs on the supply of private schools. In particular, we examine individual private schools in Washington, D.C., Indiana, and Louisiana as they transition into voucher program environments. We leverage the Private School Universe Survey to examine how schools self-identify before and after switching into voucher environments. We find that upon switching into school voucher programs, private schools in more heavily regulated programs are more likely to identify as less specialized than they were prior to entering the program, and that those schools in more lightly regulated environments …
You Can’T Always Get What You Want: Using “Broken Lotteries” To Check The Validity Of Charter School Evaluations Using Matching Designs, Leesa M. Foreman, Kaitlin P. Anderson, Gary W. Ritter, Patrick J. Wolf
You Can’T Always Get What You Want: Using “Broken Lotteries” To Check The Validity Of Charter School Evaluations Using Matching Designs, Leesa M. Foreman, Kaitlin P. Anderson, Gary W. Ritter, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
We consider situations in which public charter school lotteries are neither universally conducted nor consistently documented. Such lotteries produce “broken” Randomized Control Trials, but provide opportunities to assess the internal validity of quasi-experimental research designs. Here, we present the results of a statewide charter school evaluation using a broad-based student matching evaluation design, and run two additional analyses using the charter application wait-lists as robustness checks. Our additional models, which address concerns of self-selection by using only charter applicants as matched comparison students, yield similar effect estimates and thus provide support for the use of matching designs in charter school …
Educational Attainment Effects Of Public And Private School Choice, Leesa M. Foreman
Educational Attainment Effects Of Public And Private School Choice, Leesa M. Foreman
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
The two fastest growing school choice options are charter schools and private school voucher programs (independently, as tax credit scholarships, and as part of educational savings accounts). Most of the research assessing the effects of these programs focuses on student achievement. I review the literature to determine the impact public and private school choice programs are having on high school completion, college enrollment, and college persistence which, ultimately, may be different and of greater consequence than test scores. Furthermore, as educational attainment affects earnings and other life outcomes, those findings are reported when available. In sum, of the 12 studies …
The Wisconsin Role In The School Choice Movement, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf
The Wisconsin Role In The School Choice Movement, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson led a Midwestern policy revolution in the late 1980s and early 1990s centered on providing parents with more school choices. Since those early years, school choice in the forms of private school vouchers, public charter schools, and public school open enrollment have spread across almost all of the country. Longitudinal evaluations of the effects of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the voucher program initiated by Governor Thompson, indicate that student achievement outcomes were not consistently affected by vouchers but other vital student outcomes, including educational attainment, civic values, criminal proclivities as well as parent and …
Evaluating School Vouchers: Evidence From A Within-Study Comparison, Kaitlin P. Anderson, Patrick J. Wolf
Evaluating School Vouchers: Evidence From A Within-Study Comparison, Kaitlin P. Anderson, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the “gold-standard” for estimating causal impacts of educational programs. Students subject to lotteries, however, often are not representative of the broader population of students experiencing the educational treatment. With few exceptions, researchers are not able to determine how much selection bias exists when various quasi-experimental approaches are used in place of experimental ones within a school choice context. We are left wondering about the magnitude of the internal-for-external validity tradeoff that education researchers often face. This study assesses the extent to which methods such as propensity score matching or observational models with control variables can …
More Graduates, Less Criminals? The Economic Impacts Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Will Flanders, Corey A. Deangelis
More Graduates, Less Criminals? The Economic Impacts Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Will Flanders, Corey A. Deangelis
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Although an abundance of research indicates that private schooling can benefit individual children through higher test scores, the effects on society are less clear. We monetize and forecast the social impacts of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) in the United States. We use existing literature on the impacts of the MPCP on criminal activity and graduation rates. Between 2016 and 2035, students who use a voucher in the MPCP will generate additional economic benefits of $473 million associated with higher graduation rates, and $26 million associated with fewer felonies and misdemeanors, relative to their traditional public school peers.
Does Choice Matter For School Choice? An Instrumental Variables Analysis Of The Effect Of Choice On Parental Satisfaction In Charter Schools, Corey A. Deangelis
Does Choice Matter For School Choice? An Instrumental Variables Analysis Of The Effect Of Choice On Parental Satisfaction In Charter Schools, Corey A. Deangelis
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
I employ ordered probit regression, and a new instrumental variable, to compare the fall 2015 parental satisfaction survey results of open-enrollment charters to district-conversion charters. The results indicate that choice status in Arkansas charter schools is significantly beneficial to parental-satisfaction. In particular, after controlling for student and parent-level characteristics, parents with children in open-enrollment charters had between a 17-percentage point and 32-percentage point higher likelihood of grading their current school as an A or responding as Highly Satisfied in six of the quality categories: Overall, Teacher, Discipline, Learning, Safety and Parental-Involvement. Four of the relationships remain large and statistically-significant in …
State And District Fiscal Effects Of A Universal Education Savings Account Program In Arkansas, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis
State And District Fiscal Effects Of A Universal Education Savings Account Program In Arkansas, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Legislators in Arkansas have proposed a bill to increase educational choice through an Education Savings Account (ESA) program available to every child across the state. While many studies on the financial impact of existing ESA, voucher, and scholarship programs in the United States have found overall benefits to the state and individual districts, it may not be the case for a universally-accessible ESA since most existing programs are targeted to students based on need. A universal ESA would make ESAs available to all K-12 students in the state, so the fiscal impact is expected to be less beneficial than a …
Who Is More Free? A Comparison Of The Decision-Making Of Private And Public School Principals, M. Danish Shakeel, Corey A. Deangelis
Who Is More Free? A Comparison Of The Decision-Making Of Private And Public School Principals, M. Danish Shakeel, Corey A. Deangelis
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
While an abundance of school choice literature focuses on student achievement outcomes, little has been done to determine the mechanisms involved in producing such outcomes. We present a comparative analysis of private and public school principals using data from the School and Staffing Survey (SASS) 2011-2012. We add to the literature by examining the differences in private and public school principals’ abilities to influence important decisions at their schools. We conclude that private schooling may have a systematic advantage over public schooling since private school leadership exhibits more autonomy in influencing relevant decisions.
Private Schooling Promotes Political And Economic Freedom? An International Fixed Effects Instrumental Variables Analysis, Corey A. Deangelis, M. Danish Shakeel
Private Schooling Promotes Political And Economic Freedom? An International Fixed Effects Instrumental Variables Analysis, Corey A. Deangelis, M. Danish Shakeel
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Additional private schooling within a nation-state may increase citizens’ political and economic freedom through increased educational quality, balanced power relationships, and increased civic engagement. We employ a two-stage-least-squares time and country-level fixed-effects analytical technique to examine how private schooling could affect political rights, civil liberties and economic freedom indices. We also use a new instrumental variable, short-run fluctuations in the demand for schooling, to predict private schooling. We examine 174 different nations across the globe from 1999 to 2014, and find significant evidence to suggest that private schooling leads to enhanced political and economic freedom. In particular, our preferred model …
Whether To Approve An Education Savings Account Program In Texas: Preventing Crime Does Pay, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf
Whether To Approve An Education Savings Account Program In Texas: Preventing Crime Does Pay, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Decision-makers in Texas have proposed an Education Savings Account (ESA) that would allow all families to take a fraction of their public education financing to a school of their choice. If the ESA funding amount exceeds the school tuition level, families would be able to use these funds for other educational expenses such as tutoring, textbooks, educational therapy, online learning, and college costs. While this is may be viewed as obvious benefits to individual children and their families, the impacts on society overall are less clear. We estimate the impact of the proposed ESA on criminality from 2016 to 2035. …
Boosting Graduation Rates In Texas Through Education Savings Accounts, Patrick J. Wolf
Boosting Graduation Rates In Texas Through Education Savings Accounts, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Graduating from high school is a crucial outcome for young people. Unfortunately, 12 percent of Texas students fail to earn the vital credential of a high school diploma. Private school choice has a proven track record of increasing graduation rates. In this study I draw upon prior research, Texas demographics, and conservative assumptions to forecast that the launch of a universal private school choice program in the form of Education Savings Accounts in the fall of 2017 would generate 11,809 additional high school graduates in the Lone Star State by 2022. In other words, of those students attending high school …
School Choice: The Personal And The Political, James V. Shuls
School Choice: The Personal And The Political, James V. Shuls
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Enrollment in school choice programs is growing, so is overall support for school choice. Many have analyzed what demographic characteristics impact attitudes towards school choice. This paper adds to the literature by exploring the interaction between personal decisions regarding school choice and broader support for school choice programs. Focus groups were conducted in St. Louis and Kansas City with 35 parents of school age children. Participant responses indicate that school choice programs illicit mixed emotions from parents. Most participants personally support school choice and exercise choice themselves by sending their children to magnet, charter, or private schools. At the same …
You Can Often Get What You Want: Assessing The Match Between Parent Preferences And Private Schools Of Choice, Evan Rhinesmith, Patrick J. Wolf
You Can Often Get What You Want: Assessing The Match Between Parent Preferences And Private Schools Of Choice, Evan Rhinesmith, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Providing parents choices in education has become an increasingly popular instrument for reforming education in the United States. While existing research on parent satisfaction in private school choice programs shows that parents are satisfied with the schools they have chosen, there is not much to explain their satisfaction. Previous research using parent surveys asks parents to rate and/or grade their school of choice, while comparing their response to their thoughts on their previous public school. This paper reports new empirical evidence that looks to offer a possible explanation for parents’ satisfaction. Using data from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, we …
The Fiscal Effects Of Eliminating The Louisiana Scholarship Program On State Education Expenditures, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis
The Fiscal Effects Of Eliminating The Louisiana Scholarship Program On State Education Expenditures, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Eliminating the Louisiana Scholarship Program has been proposed as a way to reduce state education expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year. Drawing upon Louisiana’s education funding formulas, we determine that the overall effect of removing the program will increase state education expenditures. It is true that the state would avoid $41.6 million of spending if the voucher program is eliminated. However, each current voucher student who returns to a public school increases the local district’s necessary education expenditures without increasing the local tax revenue for schools, obligating the state to provide increased funding to the district. While our results depend …