Research & Analysis
Explore the data-driven side of education choice. Our research, polling, and demographics section offers valuable insights backed by facts and figures.
Look below the surface of public-school competition
Studies have repeatedly found that competition from charter and private schools drives small but meaningful improvements in public schools’ performance. But most of those studies look at individual states or school districts, so the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has made a laudable effort to gauge competitiveness nationally. The think tank’s... READ MOREPaging Special Agent Johnny Utah to investigate Utah mystery
“Point Break” follows the adventures of newly minted FBI Special Agent Johnny Utah as he unravels the mystery of a group of Los Angeles bank robbers known as “the Ex-Presidents.”...
READ MOREThe Nation’s Charter Report Card Demonstrates a Broader Need to Update School Quality Thinking
Paul E. Peterson and M. Danish Shakeel recently published a ranking of state charter school sectors based upon their NAEP 4th and 8th grade proficiency rates between 2009 and 2019....
READ MOREBetter with age? Study shows ‘maturation’ of Florida school choice programs boosts public school results
The longer Florida’s private school scholarship programs operated, the bigger the benefits for students in public schools. That’s the headline finding from a new study published this week in the...
READ MOREStrainolypse Now
Back in 2015, I authored a study sounding the alarm regarding America’s changing age demography and how it would soon challenge K-12 education called Turn and Face the Strain....
READ MOREGet smart fast, vol. 9
Who benefits from remote work? Research says that on average, remote workers are less productive from employers’ perspectives. But they may be more productive from a different perspective: They spend...
READ MOREThe federalism path to education freedom
The Teach Coalition Office of Jewish Education Policy and Research released a study last week on enrollment in New York Jewish Day Schools. Enrollment growth has slowed, and after exploring...
READ MOREGet smart fast, vol. 4
The pandemic and school closures fueled a major drop in the percentage of students identified as homeless, the Associated Press reports. Many students aren’t identified as homeless when their parents...
READ MOREMore choices, more pathways to affordable higher education
A new study shows that the lines between K-12 and higher education are getting blurrier. State of play: The Community College Research Center found enrollment declined after the pandemic among...
READ MOREThree trends worth watching in public sentiment on schooling
EdChoice is out with its latest Schooling in America Survey, one of the most comprehensive snapshots of what Americans think of their schools. It’s packed with interesting data points to...
READ MOREGet smart fast, vol. 3: Policy failures
Broken Promise? iPromise Academy, LeBron James’s widely publicized foray into educational transformation, is stumbling. Five years in, not one of its current eighth graders has passed the state’s math test,...
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