The study’s finding that students who remain in the program improve over time gives new credence to advocates who said it was unreasonable to judge a program based on only one or two years of data.
The researchers analyzed student records for public and private school students in grades 3-8 during the first four years of Indiana’s voucher program from 2011 to 2015.
Four underperforming private schools won approval Wednesday to accept more students who receive vouchers under Indiana's school choice program, benefiting from a new law that provides a second chance at avoiding penalties.
Speaking to the American Federation for Children, a group she once led, the education secretary said states that opt out of expanding school choice would be making a "terrible mistake."
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is among several well-known names slated to appear Monday in Indianapolis at the annual summit for the American Federation of Children.
The Indiana Board of Education declined to give the schools one-year waivers to show they could continue to show academic improvement.
Indiana’s state school board will consider delaying consequences for three voucher-accepting private schools, less than two weeks after Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a law allowing such schools to make the request.
A bill that quietly crossed a crucial legislative hurdle last week would allow private schools to begin receiving state funding from their first day of operation.
Over six years, the state has spent more than a half billion dollars on vouchers. During that time, Indiana’s program has expanded, giving more students access to vouchers than in any other state—despite mixed evidence from researchers that vouchers help students achieve.
Indiana, already a state with one of the most robust taxpayer-funded voucher programs in the country, has made small steps toward broadening the program.
Supporters of expanding state-funded preschool said they are frustrated the bill includes what they view as an expansion of the private school voucher program.
The voucher language has injected some controversy into a bill that has received bipartisan support.
School voucher programs in the nation's capital and Vice President-elect Mike Pence's home state of Indiana could serve as a blueprint for a Trump administration.
The Republicans and Democrats running for governor and state superintendent say they’ll focus their energy on kids, although they have different plans to do so.
A new report says Indiana's school voucher program ran up a $53.2 million deficit, but backers of the program say it actually represents a net savings to taxpayers.
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz made it clear Tuesday that she won’t support legislative efforts to expand taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools.
Supporters say the bill would help students who have been expelled or dropped out of school get back on track, while critics contend it’s too broad.
The pro-voucher Institute for Quality Education reported last week that 32,955 students applied to use vouchers this year, which would be a gain of more than 3,800, or about 13 percent.
Providence Cristo Rey is one of a handful of Indiana schools with overwhelming numbers of low-income students that is achieving results at least as good as or better than the state average.
Statewide school voucher programs across the U.S. are starting to see demand level off, but Indiana's relatively new program has yet to discover its capacity, Indiana University researchers say.
