Schools and Student Achievement: More Evidence from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program

[...]In this paper, I review the three existing studies ofthe effects of the choice schools on student achievement.Two of the studies report significant gains in math forthe choice students and two report no significant effectsin reading. I also extend the analysis to compare theachievement of students in the choice schools with that ofstudents in three different types of public schools: regularattendance area schools, citywide (or magnet) schools, andattendance area schools with small class sizes and supplementalfunding from the state of Wisconsin (“P-5” schools).The results suggest that students in P-5 schools have mathtest score gains similar to those in the choice schools, and thatstudents in the P-5 schools outperform students in the choiceschools in reading. In contrast, students in the citywideschools score no differently than students in the regularattendance area schools in both math and reading. Given thatthe pupil-teacher ratios in the P-5 and choice schools aresignificantly smaller than those in the other public schools,one potential explanation for these results is that studentsperform well in schools with smaller class sizes.[...]