Replication data for: Free to Choose: Can School Choice Reduce Student Achievement?

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Atila Abdulkadiroğlu; Parag A. Pathak; Christopher R. Walters

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
APP2016-0634_data			10/27/2021 09:48:AM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	10/12/2019 10:04:AM

Project Citation:

Abdulkadiroglu, Atila, Pathak, Parag A., and Walters, Christopher R. Replication data for: Free to Choose: Can School Choice Reduce Student Achievement? Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2018. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E113712V1

Project Description

Summary: A central argument for school choice is that parents can choose schools wisely. This principle may underlie why lottery-based school evaluations have almost always reported positive or zero achievement effects. This paper reports on a striking counterexample to these results. We use randomized lotteries to evaluate the Louisiana Scholarship Program, a voucher plan that provides public funds for disadvantaged students to attend private schools. LSP participation lowers math scores by 0.4 standard deviations and also reduces achievement in reading, science, and social studies. These effects may be due in part to selection of low-quality private schools into the program.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
      I21 Analysis of Education
      I22 Educational Finance; Financial Aid
      I28 Education: Government Policy

Geographic Coverage: Louisiana

Data Type(s): administrative records data

Methodology

Data Source: Louisiana Department of Education

Unit(s) of Observation: Student,

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-12]

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