Ohio’s School Choice Success Story

Voucher recipients saw substantially improved academic outcomes

WSJ editorial. Excerpts:

"Researchers Matthew Chingos, David Figlio and Krzysztof Karbownik studied more than 6,000 Ohio students who first used EdChoice scholarships to attend private schools between 2008 and 2014. They compared this group with more than 500,000 students who remained in public schools, selecting for similar demographics and academic characteristics.

Scholarship recipients were found to be 15 percentage points more likely to attend college than public school counterparts, and nine points more likely to graduate. Students in the program for at least four years—about 60% of participants—had even higher college enrollment and graduation rates."

"Groups that benefited the most were blacks, boys, students who experienced long-term childhood poverty, and students with below-median test scores before leaving public school. The rate of college enrollment among black scholarship recipients increased 18 percentage points, compared with 13 points for white students. Students who spent more than three-quarters of their life in poverty saw their rate of college attendance increase 17 percentage points, up to seven points higher than students from less impoverished backgrounds."

"the authors compared outcomes at schools on either side of the eligibility threshold. Students who remained at EdChoice-eligible public schools were three percentage points more likely to attend college—and six percentage points more likely to graduate—than students at ineligible public schools."