More Resources Report Fact Sheet

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) today released a report "Evaluation of D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After One Year," as part of its annual reports to Congress on program evaluation results. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program provides low-income families in our nation's capital more options for obtaining a quality education by offering scholarships for up to $7,500 for students to attend participating D.C. private schools. This is the third report in a series and the first to describe the impacts of the Program on those who applied for and were given the option to move from a public school to a participating private school of their choice in Washington, D.C.

"The report's findings are in step with rigorous studies of other voucher programs, which have not typically found impacts on student achievement in the first year," said Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. "School choice programs like the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program empower parents with more opportunities to choose a school that's right for their child—and we know that parents are pleased with the success of the Program in providing effective education alternatives."

The report studies five key outcomes of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: school differences; academic achievement; parental perceptions of school satisfaction and safety; student reports of school satisfaction and safety; and the impact of using a scholarship. The analysis estimates the effects of the program approximately seven months after the start of the students' first school year in the program and finds no statistically significant difference in test scores overall between students who were offered a scholarship and students who were not offered a scholarship.

While the report did not find significant gains in achievement for participants after the first year, it indicated a significant positive impact on parental perceptions of school satisfaction and safety. Students who were offered a scholarship were also more likely to attend a school with a music program and a computer lab than students not offered a scholarship.

The report is based on a randomized control trial that examines 2,308 eligible applicants to the Program who were not already attending private schools and who entered a lottery for a scholarship. The sample was evenly divided between males and females, and the average household in the sample had approximately three children, supported by an average annual income of $17,356. Of the sample group, nearly 100% were identified as minority, and 12% as having special needs.

Key findings of the report include:

• After one year, there was no clear evidence of a statistically significant difference in test scores between students who were offered a scholarship and students who were not offered a scholarship.

  • Overall, students who were offered the scholarship were performing in math and reading at levels comparable to students not offered a scholarship;
  • The study's results showed a positive impact on math achievement for two subgroups of students: students who had not previously attended a D.C. public school classified as in need of improvement and students with relatively higher baseline test scores.

• The Program had a substantial and consistently positive impact on parental satisfaction and their perceptions of school safety.

  • Of the parents whose child received a scholarship, 74% gave their child's school a grade of "A" or "B" compared to 55% of parents whose children did not receive scholarships.

The Institute of Educational Sciences will conduct future reports on the impact of two and three years of participation in the Program, retention, graduation, and school characteristics, as well as gauge the impact of the Program on D.C. public schools.

The full text of the report, "Evaluation of D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After One Year" is available online at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20074009/index.asp.

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