Education Working Paper No. 2  August 2003 When Schools Compete: The Effects of Vouchers on Florida Public School Achievement What the Press Said: The Voucher Challenge: Competition helps public schools. by Jay P. Greene & Marcus A. Winters, National Review Online, 5-11-04 Competition Passes the Test: Vouchers improve public schools in Florida by Jay P. Greene & Marcus A. Winters, Education Next, Summer 2004 Vouchers will help public schools By Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, The Christian Science Monitor, 8-28-03 Blame Blaine's bigotry Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, 8-24-04 Programs are overhyped USA Today, 8-12-04 Programs are overhyped Yahoo News, 8-12-04 Fighting for School Choice in the Courts The Heartland Institute, IL - Jun 21, 2004 Press Journal editorial: Thumbs up, thumbs down Vero Beach Press-Journal, FL, 5-28-04 Link Shown Between School Vouchers, Improved Test Scores New York Sun, 5-11-04 He proffers the proof in voucher fights St. Petersburg Times, 9-2-03 Let's compete to fix schools NY Daily News, 8-31-03 D.C. Vouchers Washington Times, 8-31-03 EDUCATION: Affirming the obvious The Florida Times-Union, 8-24-03 A+ for Florida vouchers Washington Times, 8-24-03 Seebach: Competitive pressure a good thing for Fla. schools Rocky Mountain News, 8-23-03 Private schools accepting of questionnaire Palm Beach Post, 8-22-03 In South Florida Miami Herald, 8-21-03 Study: Vouchers a spur to schools: Two researchers link improved public schools to the specter of private competition. St. Petersburg Times, 8-20-03 Report: Vouchers have a positive effect on schools Tallahassee Democrat, 8-20-03 Report: Vouchers Improving Fla. Public Schools New York Sun, 8-20-03 Boehner Hails New Paper Showing Education Choice Gives Schools Incentive to Improve 8-20-03 Statement By: Governor Jeb Bush Regarding Manhattan Institute Study 8-19-03

EMAIL THIS | PRINTER FRIENDLY EWP 02 PDF (72 kb) WHAT THE PRESS SAID SUMMARY: This study, by Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Jay P. Greene, Ph.D., and Research Associate Marcus A. Winters, analyzes the effect of Florida’s A+ Program on public schools. Under the A+ Program, Florida’s high-stakes test is used to grade schools on a scale from A to F. If a school receives two F grades in any four-year period it is considered to be chronically failing and its students become eligible for vouchers they can use to attend other public or private schools. Proponents of school vouchers have long argued that competition for students and the funding they generate will give public schools powerful incentives to improve. This study shows that schools in direct competition with vouchers, or threatened by the prospect of vouchers, are making educational gains greater than those of other low-performing schools that aren’t facing voucher competition. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Executive Summary About the Authors Acknowledgements About Education Working Papers Introduction A Brief Description of the A+ Program Previous Research Method The Five Categories Voucher Eligible Schools Voucher Threatened Schools Always D Schools Ever D Schools Formerly Threatened Schools School-Level Score Calculation Results Possible Explanations of the Results Other than a Voucher Effect Failing Stigma Regression to the Mean Demographic Changes Conclusion Endnotes References Appendix Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of Schools Table 2: FCAT Math Test Table 3: Stanford-9 Math Test Table 4: FCAT Reading Test Table 5: Stanford-9 Reading Test Table 6: Demographic Characteristics of F and Low Performing Non-F Schools Table 7: FCAT Math Test for Regression to the Mean Table 8: Stanford-9 Math Test for Regression to the Mean Table 9: FCAT Reading Test for Regression to the Mean Table 10: Stanford-9 Reading Test for Regression to the Mean Table 11: FCAT Math Test Controlling for Change in Demographics Table 12: Stanford-9 Math Test Controlling for Change in Demographics Table 13: FCAT Reading Test Controlling for Change in Demographics Table 14: Stanford-9 Reading Test Controlling for Change in Demographics