This article examines the high school search activities, choices, and final assignments of academically similar, but ethnically and socioeconomically different, eighth-grade students attending one New York City middle school. Despite being comparable candidates for admission to academically competitive high schools, the middle-class children of…

In the Netherlands, school choice is free and all schools are equally funded by the government. We measured distance from home to school as a proxy for the selectivity of choice and used characteristics of the nearest school to explain the choice of a school other than the nearest school. Almost 89% of all pupils in the 4 largest cities do not…

Today, over 80% of public school students in New Orleans attend charter schools, and just 37% of students attend school in their neighborhood (Louisiana Department of Education, 2011; Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives, 2011). This study examines school choice participation and outcomes in New Orleans by analyzing the extent…

Like many parents and educators, the author is concerned about both quality and equity in the school systems and schools, public and private. He is equally frustrated at the seemingly zealous focus on producing more and more charter schools when America have had: (1) limited success in that arena; and (2) limited data on their success. That…

In this commentary Yagnamurthy raises several issues such as right to education, English as the medium of instruction, and quality of education in low-fee and unrecognized schools. Also, Yagnamurthy is of the view that both public and private sectors need to endeavor for equitable participation of all children in education. Tooley replies.

In 2002, Qatar began establishing publicly funded, privately operated "independent schools" in parallel with the existing, centralized Ministry of Education system. The reform that drove the establishment of the independent schools included accountability provisions such as (a) measuring school and student performance and (b) distributing school…

Many papers describe the Chilean voucher system as the "textbook" voucher case. But this is mistaken and has prevented research to undertake the key question of how the particular design of the Chilean voucher system determines the results obtained in Chile. This also prevents discussion of how a voucher system with a different design could lead…

This reply addresses concerns raised by Dr. Harmon in "Beyond 'Cain v. Horne.'" In response to the issues she raises, I explain that the appropriate constitutional inquiry is not whether there is some incidental financial benefit to private schools but whether a challenged voucher program was enacted to assist students in obtaining the best…

In 2007, Andrew J. Rotherham proposed a new approach to the contentious issue of charter school caps, the statutory limits on charter school growth in place in several states. Rotherham's proposal, termed "smart charter school caps," called for quality sensitive caps that allow the expansion of high-performing charter schools while also…

This study explored the factors that influenced parental decisions to exit a public school and enroll their children in a private school. It also explored why parents chose the specific private school their child attends and the level of satisfaction they have with their private school choice. The key reasons for leaving public education were: (a)…

Dynamic new ventures like the Knowledge is Power Program, Teach For America, and New Leaders for New Schools, are increasingly being asked to step in to assist struggling school districts. While promising, these ventures have thus far typically been characterized by "one-off" examples of success that are extraordinarily reliant on talent and…

Since the development of magnet schools in the 1960s--and more recently, the proliferation of charter schools in the last fifteen years--school choice has been a pervasive element on the education reform landscape. With this growth has come the need for information tools to help site-based educators manage, grow, and improve their schools. This is…

Federal constitutional law currently permits choice programs that include religious schools only if they provide parents with "genuine and independent choice"; as the leading federal case demonstrates, whether this test is satisfied is an interesting and difficult empirical question. State doctrine regarding establishment of religion can be…

The reform movement embracing charter schools is based largely on the promise that these autonomous schools will out-perform public schools plagued by bureaucratic administration--an expectation reflected in the federal NCLB law. However, the many state-based reports have been mixed, and previous national studies have suffered from serious…