Chapter 7: The Impact Of School Choice Reforms On Student Achievement¹ 

One of the most common—and most widely disputed—claims about school choice is that it will lead to improved student learning and performance on standardized tests. With growing interest in school choice and the expansion and improvement of state accountability systems, an increasing number of studies have taken up the question of whether student performance improves in the many school choice models relative to performance in comparable non-choice schools. This chapter closely examines a wide range of evidence regarding school choice and its impact on student achievement.

Studying student achievement in school choice is complicated by a number of factors. First, there is limited evidence for many types of school choice. There are six broad choice types as used in this book: vouchers/tuition tax credits, charter schools, home schooling, interdistrict choice, and intradistrict choice (including magnet schools and open enrollment plans) and virtual schools. The scope of evidence on home schooling, virtual schools, and varied forms of inter- and intradistrict choice programs is very limited.