Milwaukee choice participants score higher than low-income students nationally

By School Choice Wisconsin
ford@parentchoice.org

Last Updated: April 2, 2010

MADISON - New reports released today from an independent longitudinal study of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) include positive findings regarding the impact of private school choice on Milwaukee:

• MPCP students scored “as well or better than a similar population of [national] students who most recently took the [National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)]” test.

• Achievement gains for MPCP students “are higher than but not significantly different from similar MPS students after two years,” based on matched samples of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and MPCP students. The two remaining years of data from the five-year study will address whether achievement differences reach levels of statistical significance.

• Schools currently in the MPCP are performing significantly better than those no longer in the MPCP. This reflects successful implementation of accountability measures enacted in 2003 and 2006 with support from School Choice Wisconsin. A total of 32 schools have been removed form the program and more than 100 have been prevented from joining the program thanks to these measures.

• Next year’s study results will include a report comparing graduation rates in MPS and the MPCP. Separate studies by University of Minnesota Professor John Robert Warren estimate that graduation rates are 18 percent higher for MPCP students.

The preliminary results from the SCDP longitudinal study are noteworthy given that taxpayer support for students in the MPCP is $6,442 per pupil, compared to $14,011 in MPS, and has been frozen in real terms for the last decade. During that same period, MPS experienced an 18 percent increase in real per pupil spending.

School Choice Wisconsin continues to support the work of the SCDP and looks forward to an ongoing discussion of study results, school-funding equity, and the impact of targeted regulations on school quality.

The following pages provide context and more detail for this year’s study results.

Funding

The SCDP reports that in 2007-2008, average per-pupil cost for MPCP students was $7,703 — $1,202 more than the maximum taxpayer payment of $6,501 per pupil for that year. The fact that the average school in the MPCP must raise private funds for each MPCP student it enrolls poses a threat to the program’s long-term viability.

Per pupil payments were cut to $6,442 in 2009, well below the per-pupil revenue amount in any public school district in Wisconsin.

Eighty-three per cent of schools in the MPCP reported operating costs above the maximum per-pupil taxpayer support. This situation likely has worsened in the last decade, when taxpayer support for the MPCP effectively has been frozen, in real terms.

During the same ten-year period, real per pupil spending in MPS grew 18 per cent. The cumulative result is a growing disparity in available resources for MPCP and MPS students. Ten years ago, per pupil taxpayer support for students in the MPCP was 54 per cent of per pupil spending in MPS. This year MPCP support has dropped to 46 per cent of MPS spending.

Accountability

The SCDP compared the characteristics of schools that have left the MPCP with those that are continuing to participate during the last three years. The results suggest that fiscal and academic accountability measures enacted in 2003 and 2006 with support from School Choice Wisconsin have helped remove low-performing schools. During those years 32 schools left the program.

The longitudinal study finds several statistically significant differences between schools that have left the MPCP and those that are currently participating. Schools that have left the MPCP:

• Had lower levels of academic achievement.
• Enrolled fewer students.
• Were more likely to be non-sectarian.
• Participated in the program for a shorter time period.

These findings indicate that targeted regulatory approaches have removed low-performing schools without stifling innovation at high-performing schools.

Testing

2005 Act 125 required schools in the MPCP to administer a nationally-normed, standardized test in reading, math, and science in grades 4, 8, and 10. The SCDP finds that about three-fourths of schools in the program give nationally-normed tests; only 14 percent use only the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam (WKCE) to comply with Act 125 testing requirements.

The SCDP team compared standardized test results of MPCP students with scores of urban students in the rest of the nation on the NAEP test. It found that “MPCP students in tested grades who took normed tests scored as well or better than a similar national population of students who most recently took the NAEP.”

Testing requirements enacted in the 2009-11 state budget will make comparisons with national students difficult during the next several years. The new law requires schools to use the WKCE test, which is not nationally normed and therefore does not permit comparisons with students outside Wisconsin. Schools in the MPCP will have to decide whether they also will purchase and administer a nationally normed test, or whether they give up their ability to compare their pupils’ performance to students nationally.

The most rigorous testing component of the SCDP project compares students in MPS with similar students in the MPCP. Describing these comparison, the SCDP reported, “In sum, the evidence…suggests that [MPCP] students generally are experiencing achievement growth rates that are comparable to similar MPS students.” Notably, it added, “The overall statistical comparison that is most like an experimental evaluation…yields achievement gains for the MPCP students that are higher than but not significantly different from similar MPS students after two

School characteristics

The SCDP reports descriptive data on schools participating in the MPCP, providing context into why parents choose the schools they do. According to researchers, the number of MPCP parents choosing schools with specific offerings “suggests that there is a greater demand among choice families for schools with certain characteristics.”

As the table below shows, large percentages of schools in the MPCP provide a number of programs.

Offering - Percentage of Schools
Programs for students with learning problems - 77%
Arts programs - 75%
After school programs - 71%
Individual tutors - 66%
Foreign language programs - 50%

Similarly, data suggest that schools in the MPCP are responsive to parents, staying in constant communication. A large majority of MPCP students attend schools with regular newsletters, midterm grade reports, and regular academic progress reports for parents.

The SCDP also finds two areas where schools in the choice program are significantly different than MPS, class sizes, and overall size. The average class size in the MPCP is 14.6, compared to 18.4 in MPS. The average school size is 220.1, compared to 400.8 in MPS. Both differences are statistically significant.


Click here to access the reports.