HARVARD STUDY: FLORIDA VOUCHER THREAT CAUSES SCHOOLS TO IMPROVE
Associated Press - By BRENDAN FARRINGTON [4/5/2005]

"Gov. Jeb Bush's education accountability plan is working a lot better than his brother's is in getting low performing schools to improve, a Harvard University study found.

The stigma of receiving an F grade under the governor's "A+ Plan" combined with the threat of losing students to private schools has led to an increase in test scores, according to the study distributed Tuesday.

"At these schools, students performed at a higher level in the subsequent year than did students at similar schools not so threatened," the study said.

But President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act doesn't quite have the same impact, largely because the stigma of not making the grade isn't as strong and its school choice provision doesn't have as much of an impact on school districts, the study said.

"An accountability system that identifies problems with many schools, while giving few sanctions or incentives to improve, appears unlikely to be of much consequence," it said.

In Florida, about 75 percent of elementary schools weren't making "adequate yearly progress" under the president's plan, the study said.

While parents in schools that struggle under No Child Left Behind can send their children to public schools in the same district, that's less likely to happen if most of the schools are found not to be making progress, the study said.

Florida grades its schools based on how their students score on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and rewards schools that improve their grade or consistently make an A. Schools that make a D or an F are assigned an assessment team and students at schools that receive an F two years out of four can receive vouchers to attend private schools.

The study found that students in F and D schools made significant gains while student performance in A, B and C schools continued to test at about the same level. Gains were highest in schools faced with losing students to vouchers.

"It has worked in Florida," said Martin West, one of the study's authors. "We'll be very interested in following this story and this particular program to see whether these gains that F schools are making at the moment will continue in the future."

The FCAT is also used when schools are assessed under the federal No Child Left Behind Act - but there's a twist. The federal law takes into consideration the performance of students in different ethnic groups, students from poor families, disabled students and students who speak limited English. Every group must meet the standard for the school to make the grade under the federal law.

Gov. Bush's office was pleased with the Harvard report.

"Florida is proud of its students' achievements," said Bush spokeswoman Alia Faraj. "School choice is one of the many important components of the governor's A+ plan. Year after year we have seen our students rise to the occasion and prove that they can succeed."


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