New York City School Choice: Rigorous Evidence Informs the Debate

Do private school vouchers have an impact on students’ achievement? A recent reanalysis of our 2002 report on an evaluation of the School Choice Scholarships Foundation program in New York City sheds light on these and other questions.

David Myers and Daniel Mayer, in comments on the recent reanalysis by Alan Krueger and Pei Zhu of Princeton University, note that it generally supports Mathematica's original conclusion of no impacts on test scores when students were examined overall. In Mathematica's final report, the researchers noted positive impacts on test scores for African Americans, but no impacts on test scores for Latinos when the findings were examined by subgroup. The Princeton team came to different conclusions about the subgroup impacts, based on an enlarged sample that included kindergarteners and students with missing baseline test scores. Furthermore, they used a different definition of race and ethnicity.

Paul E. Peterson, who served as principal investigator with David Myers on the original study, presents another interpretation of the results in a new analysis.

In February 1997, the School Choice Scholarships Foundation offered 1,300 scholarships to children from low-income families attending New York City public schools. More than 20,000 students applied for the scholarships, worth up to $1,400 a year for three years. Recipients were selected by a lottery in May 1997 and began attending private and parochial schools the next fall. The scholarships can be redeemed for three years at either a religious or secular school.

Reports on the first-year and second-year findings are also available. To order copies of either report, please contact Jackie Allen, Publications Coordinator, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., P.O. Box 2393, Princeton, NJ 08543-2393, (609) 275-2350. The research was funded by the Achelis Foundation, Bodman Foundation, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Donner Foundation, Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, John M. Olin Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, and Spencer Foundation.

Restricted use data files from the study are available; contact Jackie Allen for information.

Back to Top