Cierniak et al 2015 Indiana Choice Scholarship CEEP EPB

2015

establishing, at the time, the nation's largest school voucher program in terms of student eligibility (Friedman Foundation, 2014). While 13 states have voucher programs, Indiana is one of only a few states with a voucher program open to students statewide (Friedman Foundation, n.d.). Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin also off er statewide voucher programs, as described in the Center of Evaluation and Education Policy's companion to this brief (see Cierniak, Stewart, & Ruddy, forthcoming 2015). Indiana's program, called Indiana Choice Scholarship (ICS), continues to expand, with increases in the number of scholarships awarded occurring each year since the program's inception. Th e number of scholarships awarded increased from 3,911 in 2011-2012 to 9,139 in 2012-2013, an increase of approximately 134 percent. Th e following school year, 2013-2014, 19,809 students participated in the program, an increase of 116.8 percent from the prior year (Indiana Department of Education [IDOE], 2014a). Since 2011, signifi cant changes have been made to Public Law 92-2011 and the constitutionality of the ICS program has been upheld through the 2013 Meredith v. Pence court decision. Given this dramatic rise in statewide voucher programs and, in turn, the relevance of Indiana's program in this national context, a review of the ICS program and its recent changes is warranted.

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

This paper examines the impact of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program on student achievement for low-income students in upper elementary and middle school who used a voucher to transfer from public to private schools during the first four years of the program. We analyzed student-level longitudinal data from public and private schools taking the same statewide standardized assessment. Overall, voucher students experienced an average achievement loss of 0.15 SDs in mathematics during their first year of attending a private school compared with matched students who remained in a public school. This loss persisted regardless of the length of time spent in a private school. In English/Language Arts, we did not observe statistically meaningful effects. Although school vouchers aim to provide greater educational opportunities for students, the goal of improving the academic performance of low-income students who use a voucher to move to a private school has not yet been realized in Indiana.

Center For Evaluation and Education Policy Indiana University, 2011

RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2019

This article examines the pathways that students can follow within the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program and the associations with their math and English language arts achievement in upper elementary and middle school. We analyze student-level longitudinal data by matching voucher and nonvoucher students to estimate the role of participating in the voucher program, taking advantage of the uniqueness of Indiana public and private schools taking the same standardized assessment over time. The different student pathways for using vouchers are related to student achievement with significant achievement losses for students who switch from a public to a private school with a voucher. Students who have always attended a private school, both before and after receiving a voucher, experience no significant changes in achievement.

Educational Considerations, 2012

She teaches courses in educational policy, school finance, business management, and school leadership. Her research includes studies of educational policy issues, school finance equity and adequacy, and standards-based school reform initiatives. Edward Eiler has over 35 years of administrative experience in public school administration and currently serves as the superintendent of the Lafayette School Corporation. He has taught courses and published in the areas of educational leadership, school finance, fiscal management, human resource management, and labor relations.

Center For Evaluation and Education Policy Indiana University, 2010

Center For Evaluation and Education Policy Indiana University, 2011

Peabody Journal of Education, 2016

Some private, religious schools that accept vouchers have been accused of discriminating against certain populations of students through their admissions processes. Discriminating against disfavored groups (e.g., racial minorities, LGBT students, students with disabilities, religious minorities) in voucher programs raises both legal and policy concerns that have not been extensively examined in recent research. Employing legal research methods, this article examines state voucher statutes and discusses the potential for voucher programs to discriminate against marginalized groups. We argue that each state has an obligation to ensure that any benefit it creates must be available to all students on a nondiscriminatory basis-including the benefit of a publicly funded voucher for attendance at a private school. As this review of existing voucher statutes will demonstrate, legislators appear to have neglected to construct policies that safeguard student access and ensure that public funds do not support discriminatory practices. Without additional safeguards, states risk providing public money that can be used to promote discriminatory policies and practices. Media reports suggest that some private, religious schools that accept vouchers might be discriminating against certain populations of students through their admissions process. For example, the New York Times reported that schools participating in Georgia's voucher program are able to expel openly gay students (Severson, 2013). The article notes that as many as a third of the schools in the scholarship program have strict antigay policies or adhere to a religious philosophy that holds homosexuality as immoral or sinful. Sher (2013) also contends that there are over 100 private schools that are eligible for public money in Georgia that may discriminate against LGBT students. Likewise, a newspaper in Indiana explained that some of the religious schools participating in the voucher program may not openly welcome LGBT families (LeFave, 2014). When asked whether LGBT students and their families would be welcome at a private Christian