Toward an Evaluation Design for the Cleveland Scholarship Program. Working Papers in Public Policy Analysis and Management.

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23

Disadvantaged Youth; Educational Vouchers; Elementary Secondary Education; Evaluation Methods; Pilot Projects; Private Schools; Program Evaluation; Public Schools; Research Design; Scholarships; Suburban Schools; Urban Schools

In March 1995 the Ohio General Assembly enacted a Pilot Project Scholarship Program intended to provide a limited number of vouchers to allow Cleveland public school students to attend alternative schools, i.e. private schools, including those operated by religious organizations, within the Cleveland city limits and public schools in surrounding suburban school districts. Vouchers were to be available for the first time in the 1996-97 school year. Voucher winners were to be chosen by lottery, with voucher winners accepted by lottery into the alternative schools with preferences given for current students and their siblings. The maximum voucher value was to be $2,500, with reductions for increasing income above the federal poverty line until eligibility ended at 200% of the poverty level. Students, once admitted, could continue receiving vouchers through grade 8, subject to continued funding by the state. Although about 4,000 families were made some kind of voucher offer, many refused. An evaluation was designed to determine why so many did not enroll, and the significance this might have for future program management and evaluation. The designed evaluation will have a study of parent choice and satisfaction, with interviews with at least 25 parents (those that enrolled children and those that did not), and a study of the initial effectiveness of the program in terms of student achievement, subject to the limitations of available data. The rationale behind and planned implementation of both evaluation components are described. (SLD)

1998

ED418201