School voucher study shows positive but questionable results

A "working paper" released by North Carolina State University on Monday reported that high schools students who are in their first year of receiving state vouchers to attend nonpublic schools showed significant progress in the math, reading and language portions of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

But the authors warned that the study group consisted of a small group of volunteers, and the only definite thing their study showed was that more study is needed. They pointed out that the possibility of additional research is extremely limited by a lack of funding and a lack of uniform standards.

"This is a quasi-experimental study, so we are not able to say that these are causal effects because we were not working with a representative, random sample of students," said Anna Egalite, an N.C. State assistant professor of education and the lead author of the working paper. "From a policy perspective, the biggest takeaway from this paper is just how many limitations there are to conducting a high-quality evaluation of the program's academic impact, given current statutes."

The Opportunity Scholarship Program has distributed more than $53 million since the 2014-15 school year. Qualifying students receive grants of up to $4,200 a year to attend nonpublic schools.

The legislation that created the program called for evaluation but did not include funding or establish uniform accountability measures.

The N.C. State researchers recruited 698 student volunteers from both public and nonpublic schools to take the Iowa test in the spring of 2017. The test was repeated this spring.

They pointed out that, of the 698 students, they had enough information to compare results from only about 250 students.

North Carolina is one of the newer states to offer school vouchers. About 9,500 students are expected to receive them for the coming school year.

Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, which advocates for school choice and vouchers, issued a release focusing on the gains reported in the N.C. State study. Brian Jodice, the group's interim president, said in the release, "We celebrate these early findings, showing this program is offering children from some of North Carolina’s lowest-income families a real chance at academic success, and it’s spurred by parental school choice.

"We know this is a pilot study and that additional evaluation needs to be done. We support ongoing research evaluating the impact of this program on students’ academic outcomes. PEFNC was pleased to participate, along with school leaders, researchers and state agencies, in a task force that studied evaluation and reported recommendations recently to the state legislature. Nonetheless, we believe this initial study is groundbreaking. It offers lawmakers and the public important, early feedback about how students perform after enrolling in a private school of their parents’ choice using a scholarship."