Effects of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program on Public School Students’ Achievement and Graduation Rates

We examined the competitive effects of the largest, statewide K–12 private school voucher program in the United States. We relied on network proximity data to generate a drive-time measure that accounts for road lengths, intersection turn times, speed limits, and traffic patterns. This allowed us to calculate travel time between two points in 1-minute intervals. We used this precise measure in a difference-in-differences framework to examine impacts on student math and English language arts test scores and graduation rates. Using a student-level dataset that covers the 2006–07 through 2015–16 school years, we found little evidence that the average student in an Indiana traditional public school had been affected—either positively or negatively— by the enactment and growth of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program. We discuss policy implications of these findings.