School Vouchers Examining the Evidence Author:Martin Carnoy Do school vouchers improve student performance? In recent months, voucher advocates have produced new reports claiming that students using vouchers improve their academic performance and that the threat of the availability of vouchers leads to improved student performance in public schools. In School Vouchers: Examining the Evidence, Martin Carn... more »oy (with complimentary analyses by Helen Ladd and Elizabeth Glennie of Duke University, Amanda Brownson of the University of Texas, and Douglas Harris of the Economic Policy Institute) reviews the recent empirical research on the effect of vouchers on student achievement and the effect of the threat of vouchers on low-performing public schools. The analysis finds that vouchers' effects on achievement are almost certainly smaller than claimed, and it illustrates the pervasive problems with some of the high-profile research used to argue in favor of this education reform effort.« less