Extreme Measures: A National Descriptive Analysis of Closure and Restructuring of Traditional Public, Charter, and Private Schools

May 24, 2022  |  By Douglas N. Harris, Valentina Martinez-Pabon

This study provides the first analysis of closure and restructuring trends for essentially all schools nationwide over the past 30 years. We analyze the annual closure and restructuring rates of all schools across the United States, how these rates changed over time, and what factors predict closure and restructuring.

How Do Charter Schools Affect System-Level Test Scores and Graduation Rates? A National Analysis

February 04, 2022  |  By Feng Chen, Douglas N. Harris

In this study, we analyze data from 1995-2016 for all the nation’s publicly funded school systems and find that charter schools increase average graduation rates and math and reading scores across all types of publicly funded schools when charter schools open in their districts.

States Can Play a Stronger Role in Promoting Equity and Access in School Choice

December 07, 2021  |  By Katrina Bulkley, Julie A. Marsh, Laura Mulfinger

In this study, we draw on 58 interviews with state policy makers and experts in five states to examine how state policy makers and education leaders think about school choice policy and how issues of equity show up in state-level discourse and action.

Schools and School Choice During a Year of Disruption: Views of Parents in Five States

October 05, 2021  |  By Shira Haderlein, Julie A. Marsh, Tong Tong, Katrina Bulkley, Huriya Jabbar, Emily Germain, David Quinn, Dwuana Bradley, Jacob Alonso, Laura Mulfinger

In this study, more than 3,000 parents across Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Oregon share how they experienced school system responses at the height of the pandemic and national unrest in spring 2021 and how the pandemic changed parents’ attitudes and preferences related to school choice.

Why Did So Many Public Schools Stay Remote During the COVID Crisis?

July 12, 2021  |  By Douglas N. Harris, Daniel M. Oliver

We examine how a wide variety of community and school district characteristics may have affected the likelihood of schools reopening in this national analysis of data from fall 2020 and spring 2021.

The Effects of School Reopenings on COVID-19 Hospitalizations

January 04, 2021  |  By Douglas N. Harris, Engy Ziedan, Susan Hassig

How America's Schools Responded to the COVID Crisis

July 13, 2020  |  By Douglas N. Harris, Daniel M. Oliver, Lihan Liu, Cathy Balfe, Sara Slaughter, Nicholas Mattei

With a representative sample of 3,511 schools, this is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies to date on what America’s schools have done to respond to the pandemic.