Higher Reading Scores for D.C. Voucher Students, Study Shows

WASHINGTON, June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 88 percent of students who receive D.C. Opportunity Scholarships posted statistically significant increases in reading achievement, according to a federal study released today. To achieve the same results, other students would have needed about two to four months of additional instruction in reading.

The report, Evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After Two Years, from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, shows that students in several groups are making academic gains as a result of the scholarship program. The most significant growth took place in the important area of reading.

The results of the study are especially telling, considering that scholarship students are often faced with significant academic challenges when they leave low-performing D.C. public schools and enter the academically advanced environments of private schools.

As parent Pam Battle, who has two children in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, remarked, she has met scholarship recipients who are "doing work that would be assigned in seventh grade public schools -- in the fourth grade."

"We are pleased that children are posting achievement gains in their new schools," said Charles Hokanson, president of the national nonprofit Alliance for School Choice. "But the numbers don't tell the whole story. The evaluation looks at roughly the first 19 months of the program. It takes several years for a program to have its fullest impact and post major gains. This report gives us confidence that we will see even greater success in the years to come."

In addition, the report indicated that parental satisfaction for the program continues to be very high, with the majority of parents giving their childrens' schools the grade of an "A" or a "B." Demand for the scholarships was also extremely high. The study also indicated that students in the program observed better behavior among their peers in the classroom in scholarship schools than did students in D.C. public schools.

The report for the third year of the program will be released in spring 2009.

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program served more than 1,900 students during the 2007-2008 school year, with an average scholarship amount of $6,986. The program was enacted in 2004 after Congress passed the D.C. School Choice Incentive Act.

Congress is currently debating the reauthorization of the program. A recent poll by the Greater Washington Urban League demonstrated that 69 percent of District residents support the plan that funds the scholarship program. Nearly every newspaper in the District has editorialized in support of reauthorization, and renewal of the program is backed by Mayor Adrian Fenty, former Mayor Anthony Williams, and several civic groups.

To learn more information about children and their families who benefit from the program, visit www.voicesforschoolchoice.org

SOURCE Alliance for School Choice

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