Michael R. Ford

School Exits in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Evidence of a Marketplace?

This article examines whether the large number of school exits from the Milwaukee school voucher program is evidence of a marketplace. Two logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression models tested the relation between the inability to draw large numbers of voucher students and the ability for a private school to remain viable. Data on school enrollments and characteristics are used to test the hypotheses that schools with lower initial voucher enrollments and growth are more likely to fail. The analysis finds evidence of a marketplace; schools that experience low voucher enrollment growth are more likely to have left the program.

Do School Board Governance Best Practices Improve District Performance? Testing the Key Work of School Boards in Wisconsin

ABSTRACT The most prominent set of school board governance best practices used in the United States is the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA’s) Key Work of School Boards. In this article, we operationalize adherence to the Key Work of School Boards with multiple survey items answered by Wisconsin school board members. Using multivariate regression models, we find that adherence to the best practices results in improved achievement in districts represented by board members who have served for five or more years. The findings support the idea that school board governance behaviors are linked to district-level academic outcomes.

Reframing Social Entrepreneurship Impact: Productive, Unproductive and Destructive Outputs and Outcomes of the Milwaukee School Voucher Programme

Abstract This paper initially seeks to problematize the common assumption that all social entrepreneurship impact is positive. No matter what social entrepreneurs and other powerful intermediaries subjectively believe or hope, assuming that social entrepreneurship is always productive a priori imposes significant limits on this budding field. In order to overcome this bias it is necessary to reframe how we approach and assess social entrepreneurship impact. Drawing from the economic entrepreneurship literature, this paper outlines a multi-dimensional framework to serve as a useful and preferable starting point for assessing social entrepreneurship. We then make use of this multi-dimensional lens to look closer at the impact of one case of social entrepreneurship, the school voucher programme in Milwaukee.

Changes in School Enrollment Patterns After the First-Time Release of School-Level Test Scores in Milwaukee’s School Voucher Program A First Look

Since 1990, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) has enabled low and middle-income parents to attend private Milwaukee schools at state expense. In 2010, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released, for the first time, results of newly required state standardized tests for students using the MPCP. This article uses an original data set from Milwaukee’s two-decade-old private school voucher program to test several hypotheses on the impact of the first public release of test scores on school enrollment patterns. Specifically, the article uses quantitative methods to test (a) whether enrollment decreased at lower performing schools, (b) whether low-performing schools were more likely to close compared with higher performing schools, and (c) whether historical school-level growth patterns were significantly different after the release of test scores. The article finds that enrollment increases at higher performing schools were larger than at low-performing schools. However, the link between test scores and enrollment patterns disappears after controlling for available school-level characteristics. The analysis provides a first peek at how a transparency intervention affects enrollment patterns in an education marketplace.

School Board Member Definitions of Accountability: What Are They, and Do They Impact District Outcomes?

ABSTRACT Recent reforms in K–12 education governance shift the accountability responsibility in public education away from the democratic governance provided by school boards, but little is known about how school board members define accountability. In this article, survey data from school board members in Wisconsin is combined with school district demographic and performance variables to determine how board members define accountability, and how those definitions relate to outcomes. The analysis finds no connection between any single accountability definition and school district outcomes, but does find a significant positive relationship between board member agreement on accountability definitions and academic performance indicators.

Comparing Nonprofit Charter and Traditional Public School Board Member Perceptions of the Public, Conflict, and Financial Responsibility: Is there a difference and does it matter?

Abstract In this paper, survey data collected from nonprofit charter school board and elected public school board members in Minnesota is used to test three hypotheses relating to theories of New Public Management, democratic governance, and small group dynamics. We find that nonprofit charter school board members perceive lower levels of conflict, place less priority on the general public, and perceive a higher degree of governance responsibly in the area of financial management, than elected board members. We conclude that the increased use of nonprofit charter schools has potentially substantial implications on accountability and effectiveness in the delivery of public education.

Organizational Failure in the Hollow State: Lessons from the Milwaukee Voucher Experience

ABSTRACT In this conceptual article we use the experience of the longstanding Milwaukee private school voucher program to categorize different failure types within the hollow state. Specifically, we argue that the overall performance of the hollow state is dependent on the performance of organizations operating within the hollow state, that organizational failures are inevitable in hollow state activities, and that such failures can be categorized as marketplace failures, service failures, institutional failures, or customer service failures. We conclude that policy makers must plan for the reality of organizational failures in the hollow state if such arrangements are to be effective.

Board conflict and public performance on urban and non-urban boards: Evidence from a national sample of school board members

ABSTRACT In this article a national sample of survey data collected from U.S. school board members paired with school-district level data from the National Center for Education Statistics are used to test the relationships between board conflict and school district performance. We add to the existing governance literature through our use of a national data set and specific focus on the impact of conflict on urban school boards. The analysis indicates a negative relationship between board conflict and district performance that is magnified on urban school boards. We conclude that school board members in general can improve school district performance by mitigating potential sources of board conflict, and that the importance of reducing conflict is greater on urban school boards.

Determinants of conflict on Wisconsin School Boards

In this article, we use original survey data from Wisconsin school board members to determine the extent of conflict present on Wisconsin school boards and the determinants of different types of perceived board conflict. School boards, by virtue of overseeing a public good with readily measurable performance variables, offer an ideal case for testing a relationship between board governance performance and conflict. Using multivariate regression analysis, we find that that the perceived level of conflict on Wisconsin school boards is dependent on the quality of superintendent–board relations, the demographic profile of the school district overseen by the school board, and the age and experience level of school board members. Notably, we do not find a clear relationship between conflict and measures of school district academic performance.

School Choice Legislation: Impact Assessment and Fiscal Notes

Legislators considering large scale school choice proposals want information on more than likely schooling outcomes. They look to their fiscal bureaus and economic studies to provide that information. The fiscal notes that must accompany all proposals with revenue or expenditure implications are especially important. Often, fiscal notes must be produced on short notice. The article assesses the fiscal notes that have accompanied the major U.S. charter law and tuition voucher proposals, and to highlight key issues and research needs it assesses fiscal and economic impacts of the proposed Texas (2011–HB 33) tuition voucher program. We assess fiscal notes in terms of research basis for predictions, predicted level of participation (# of choosers), and predicted basis for fiscal impacts, including time trend of effects. Finally, we propose how the fiscal notes might be improved; not just what legislative analysts should do, but also what could be done to make doing a better job easier.