Children in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to see their local schools close.

Shrinking public finances have meant many cities and municipalities have looked to cut costs, with education not being spared. In new research, Jin Lee and Christopher Lubienski examine the effects of Chicago’s school closures, which have been justified by falling enrollment numbers. They write that schools in poorer areas are often likely to be the first targets for closure, a trend which means that there are fewer schools available for children – often African American and Latino – in less advantaged neighborhoods

NEPC Review: On the Public-Private School Achievement Debate

This report claims that private schools outperform public schools. According to a review by the Think Tank Review Project, the report applied inappropriate models to account for the demographic differences between students.</p

"Quasi-Märkte" und Innovationen im Bildungsbereich

Policymakers around the globe have looked to quasi-market mechanisms such as choice and competition to promote greater levels of innovations in the way children are educated. Innovation is seen as an important route to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of schools, as well as to provide new and better opportunities for disadvantaged children and communities. This review of research synthesizes evidence on educational innovation in such school systems where policies promote at least one of three factors: (1) greater levels of consumer choice of schools, (2) greater levels of school-level autonomy, and/or (3) greater levels of competition between schools. [The authors] conclude that quasi-market mechanisms are succeeding in a number of areas, but a closer examination of patterns suggests significant distinctions in how innovations can be generated at different levels of educational organizations, and points to the importance of the institutional conditions in which incentives may be more effective. (DIPF/Orig.)Politiker auf der ganzen Welt haben "Quasi-Markt"-Mechanismen wie freie Schulwahl und Wettbewerb eingeführt, um im Bildungsbereich mehr Innovationen zu erreichen. Innovationen werden als wichtig erachtet, um die Effizienz und Effektivität von Schulen zu steigern und benachteiligten Kindern und Regionen neue und bessere Chancen zu eröffnen. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über Forschungsergebnisse zu Bildungsinnovationen in Schulsystemen, die mindestens einen der drei folgenden Faktoren erfüllen: (1) größere Entscheidungsfreiheit der "Verbraucher" bei der Schulwahl, (2) mehr Autonomie auf der Ebene der Einzelschule und (3) mehr Wettbewerb zwischen Schulen. Es kann gezeigt werden, dass Quasi-Markt-Mechanismen in vielen Bereichen wirkungsvoll sind. Ein genauerer Blick auf die Wirkungsmuster zeigt jedoch bedeutende Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Entstehensbedingungen von Innovationen auf den einzelnen Ebenen von Bildungsorganisationen; er macht die institutionellen Bedingungen deutlich, unter denen solche Anreize tatsächlich Wirkung zeigen können. (DIPF/Orig.

Como as familias marginalizadas dentro de paisajes urbanas desiguales envolvidos en la escolha de la escuela? Uma abordagem crítica geográfica

The normalization of school choice in the education system is purported to provide more schooling options for all families, particularly those who do not have the means to move into affluent areas with ‘better’ schools. Nonetheless, it is still unclear to what extent the policy of school choice has been effective in achieving the goal of providing more choices for marginalized families. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the K-12 school choice practices and patterns of marginalized urban families, with a focus on their spatial positions and dispositions, in what is arguably one of the most rapidly diversifying and polarizing cities in the world, Vancouver, Canada. An innovative mixed-methods critical geographic approach is used to better understand the families’ school choice participation and related mobility patterns geo-spatially, while exploring their choices phenomenologically.   La normalización de la elección de escuela en los sistemas educativos supuestamente proporciona más opciones de enseñanza para todas las familias, especialmente aquellos que no tienen los medios para entrar en las zonas ricas con 'mejores' escuelas. Sin embargo, todavía no está claro hasta qué punto la elección de la política de la escuela ha logrado el objetivo de proporcionar más opciones está marginada familias. El presente trabajo pretende llenar este vacío mediante el examen de los K-12 prácticas de elección de escuela y los patrones de las familias urbanas marginadas, con un enfoque en sus posiciones y disposiciones espaciales, en Vancouver, Canadá. Un innovador enfoque de métodos mixtos es fundamental utilizado geográfica para entender mejor la participación escolar elección de las familias y los patrones de movilidad relacionados geo-espacialmente, mientras que la exploración de sus opciones de vista fenomenológico.La normalización de la escolha en el sistema de educación es supuesta para proporcionar más opciones para todas las familias, especialmente aquellos que no tienen los medios para entrar en las zonas ricas con 'mejores' escuelas. Sin embargo, todavía no está claro en qué medida las familias elección de la política de la escuela ha sido eficaz para alcanzar el objetivo de proporcionar más opçãos se marginadas. El presente trabajo pretende llenar este vacío mediante el examen de los K-12 prácticas de elección de escuela y los patrones de las familias urbanas marginadas, con un enfoque en sus posiciones espaciales y disposiciones, en Vancouver, Canadá. Un innovador enfoque de métodos mixtos es fundamental utilizado geográfica para entender mejor la participación escolar elección de las familias y los patrones de movilidad relacionados geo-espacialmente, mientras que la exploración de sus opçãos de vista fenomenológico

Respostas estratégicas da Escola à concorrência em áreas urbanas segregados: Padrões na localização das escolas na Região Metropolitana de Detroit

School choice is intended to generate competition between schools largely to leverage new and better educational opportunities for disadvantaged students. Yet we know very little about how competition impacts whole populations of schools, or different types of schools, in distributing different educational options across segregated social landscapes. This analysis maps new educational options for families, as different types of charter schools respond to market competition within a highly competitive and segregated environment examining school and organizational strategies in positioning themselves within metropolitan Detroit in order to measure the overall impact of these strategies on alternatives for disadvantaged students. Dynamic mapping illuminates the kinds of charter schools that have opened, relocated, and closed relative to socioeconomic and demographic distributions in neighborhoods, providing a comprehensive picture of supply-side responses to competition since the emergence of choice policies. We offer a brief outline of the policy context, considering the primary equity impetus for choice, and the policy implications as they are expected to reverberate through the organizational behavior of schools. Then we present a more complex theoretical framework for understanding likely strategic responses from organizations in competitive education markets. In doing this, we draw on theories from the literatures on industrial organizations and locational theories as they apply to what we are calling local education markets. We then describe the geo-spatial analyses, providing graphic maps to represent the patterns evident in this case. The concluding discussion offers a brief overview of the equity implications for employing the profit motive to expand educational access.La libre eleccin de escuelas tiene la intencionalidad de aprovechar la competencia entre las escuelas para obtener mejores oportunidades educativas para estudiantes con desventajas. Sin embargo, sabemos muy poco acerca de cmo la competencia impacta poblaciones enteras de escuelas de diferentes tipos en la distribucin de opciones educativas en espacios sociales segregados. Basandonos en las teoras sobre medio ambiente institucional, comportamiento organizacional, y estrategias de posicionamiento investigamos cmo los diferentes tipos de escuelas (pblicas, privadas y charter) responden a la competencia de mercado en el entorno altamente competitivo y segregado del rea Metropolitana de Detroit. El mapeamiento ilustra los patrones de tipos de escuelas que abrieron, se mudaron, y cerraron en relacin a los contextos socioeconmicos y demogrficos barriales. Nuestro anlisis explora la nocin de incentivo de tasas elevadas de vacancia como una aproximacin a la existencia de los espacios adecuados para nuevas escuelas. Los resultados sugieren que los incentivos competitivos tienen efectos similares en los diferentes tipos de organizaciones.A escolha escolar tem como inteno a concorrncia entre as escolas para gerar melhores oportunidades educacionais para alunos desfavorecidos. No entanto, sabemos muito pouco sobre como a competio impacta populaes inteiras de escolas de diferentes tipos na distribuio de opes educacionais em contextos segregao social. Baseados nas teorias da literatura sobre o ambiente institucional, comportamento organizacional e estratgias de posicionamento para investigar como os diferentes tipos de escolas (pblicas, privadas e charter) respondem concorrncia no mercado dentro da area Metropolitana de Detroit que um ambiente altamente competitivo e segregado. O mapeamento ilustra os padres de tipos de escolas que abriram, mudaram, e fecharam em relao ao bairro contextos socioeconmicos e demogrficos. Nossa anlise explora o incentivo da localizao de taxas altas de vacncia de espaos como proxy sobre espaos acessvel adequados para novas escolas. Os resultados sugerem que os incentivos competitividade tm efeitos similares em diferentes tipos de organizaes

NEPC Review: A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on How Vouchers Affect Public Schools

Advocates of vouchers argue that nearby public schools will be forced to compete for students, leading to improvements for voucher users and non-users alike. Critics worry that the students who use vouchers to leave public schools will have parents with higher levels of education and be less expensive to educate, and that losing these students will cause those schools to enter spirals of decline. This new report purports to gather all available empirical evidence on the question of the competitive effects of vouchers, finding a strong consensus that vouchers help public schools. But the report, based on a review of 17 studies, selectively reads the evidence in some of those studies, the majority of which were produced by voucher advocacy organizations. Moreover, the report can&rsquo;t decide whether or not to acknowledge the impact of factors other than vouchers on public schools. It attempts to show that public school gains were caused by the presence of vouchers alone, but then argues that the lack of overall gains for districts with vouchers should be ignored because too many other factors are at play. In truth, existing research provides little reliable information about the competitive effects of vouchers, and this report does little to help answer the question.</p

NEPC Review: The ABC's of School Choice

A new annual report from the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation is designed as a resource to provide ammunition for persuading people as to the merits of school choice. While there may indeed be a number of reasons to argue for school choice, this handbook shoots blanks. The report provides updated information on thirteen states and the District of Columbia with policies that approximate the Friedman Foundation's voucher-based version of school "choice." While the descriptive compendium of information is mostly accurate and somewhat useful, the report begins and ends with "Frequently Asked Questions," where the Foundation seeks to interpret the research on school choice issues for the lay reader. As might be expected from a voucher advocacy organization such as this, the report relies on a highly selective sub-sample of studies. The research referred to in the report tends toward non-peer-reviewed studies of questionable quality from other advocacy organizations, while ignoring evidence in these and other higher quality studies that questions the Foundation's unequivocal support for vouchers. Evidence &mdash; particularly on the issue of achievement &mdash; is consistently abused in this report, both by misrepresenting individual studies (including those by voucher advocates) and misrepresenting the general body of research on choice. In short, for those hoping to learn more about the issue, this one-sided report does a poor job of even representing only one side of the debate.</p

Uma introdução à dossier especial: O estudo da escolha da escola no Canadá

In this article, we introduce the special issue that illuminates issues in school choice and education marketization in contemporary Canada. We begin with a discussion of the proliferation of market models across the globe and the kind of questions that have arisen as public policymakers, philanthropists, and other private interests have embraced and advanced market-oriented reforms. Then we turn to Canada, and briefly discuss the scholarly literature on education privatization and school choice in the past two decades. After that, we present the five articles, highlighting how each piece contributes to a deeper understanding of the changing landscape of choice and competition, as well as how these changes impact schools and communities in a diverse, multicultural country. We conclude by discussing the importance of continuing empirical research in order to inform important debates about how to best meet the needs of the students in a democratic society.En este artículo, presentamos una edición especial que ilumina los problemas con las opciones escolares y la mercantilización de la educación en Canadá hoy en día. Comenzamos con una discusión de la proliferación de los modelos del mercado en todo el mundo y el tipo de preguntas que han surgido a medida que los formuladores de pólizas públicas, filántropos y otros intereses privados han adoptado y avanzado reformas orientadas al mercado. Luego nos dirigimos a Canadá y discutimos brevemente la literatura académica sobre la privatización de la educación y las opciones escolares en las últimas dos décadas. A continuación, presentamos los cinco artículos, destacando cómo cada pieza contribuye a una comprensión más profunda del paisaje cambiante de las opciones escolares y la competencia, así tal como estos cambios impactan a las escuelas y las comunidades en un país diverso y multicultural. Concluimos discutiendo la importancia de continuar la investigación empírica para informar importantes discusiones sobre cómo satisfacer mejor las necesidades de los estudiantes en una sociedad democrática.Neste artigo, apresentamos uma edição especial que ilumina os problemas com opções escolares e mercantilização da educação no Canadá hoje. Começamos com uma discussão sobre a proliferação de modelos no mercado mundial e no tipo de questões que têm surgido como formuladores de políticas públicas, filantropos e outros interesses privados adotaram reformas avançadas e orientadas para o mercado. Então, nós fomos para o Canadá e discutir brevemente a literatura acadêmica sobre a privatização de opções de educação e escola nas últimas duas décadas. Aqui estão os cinco itens, destacando como cada pedaço contribui para uma compreensão mais profunda da paisagem em mudança de escolha da escola e concorrência, bem como as mudanças que impactam estas escolas e comunidades em um país diverso e multicultural. Concluímos discutindo a importância de continuar a pesquisa empírica para informar discussões importantes sobre como melhor atender as necessidades dos alunos em uma sociedade democrática