A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some countries, states, or local jurisdictions, the voucher can be used to cover or reimburse home schooling expenses. In some countries, vouchers only exist for tuition at private schools.
School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools. It is the subject of fierce debate in various state legislatures across the United States.
Gene V Glass is an American statistician and researcher working in educational psychology and the social sciences. According to the science writer Morton Hunt, he coined the term "meta-analysis" and illustrated its first use in his presidential address to the American Educational Research Association in San Francisco in April, 1976. The most extensive illustration of the technique was to the literature on psychotherapy outcome studies, published in 1980 by Johns Hopkins University Press under the title Benefits of Psychotherapy by Mary Lee Smith, Gene V Glass, and Thomas I. Miller. Gene V Glass is a Regents' Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University in both the educational leadership and policy studies and psychology in education divisions, having retired in 2010 from the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education. From 2011 to 2020, he was a senior researcher at the National Education Policy Center, a Research Professor in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder, and a Lecturer in the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San Jose State University. In 2003, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Education.
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002), was a 5–4 decision of the United States Supreme Court that upheld an Ohio program that used school vouchers. The Court decided that the program did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as long as parents using the program were allowed to choose among a range of secular and religious schools.
The American Educational Research Association is a professional organization representing education researchers in the United States and around the world. AERA's mission is to advance knowledge about education and promote the use of research in educational practice.
Geoffrey D. Borman is an American quantitative methodologist and policy analyst. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1997 and is currently the Alice Wiley Snell Endowed Professor at Arizona State University, Director of the Arizona State University Education Sciences Graduate Program, and Editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.
Lisa Graham Keegan is an American education reform advocate and the author of the parenting book Simple Choices.
Deborah Loewenberg Ball is an educational researcher noted for her work in mathematics instruction and the mathematical preparation of teachers. From 2017 to 2018 she served as president of the American Educational Research Association. She served as dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan from 2005 to 2016, and she currently works as William H. Payne Collegiate Professor of education. Ball directs TeachingWorks, a major project at the University of Michigan to redesign the way that teachers are prepared for practice, and to build materials and tools that will serve the field of teacher education broadly. In a sometimes divisive field, Ball has a reputation of being respected by both mathematicians and educators. She is also an extremely well-respected mentor to junior faculty members and graduate students.
The Independence Institute (II) is a libertarian think tank based in Denver, Colorado. The group's stated mission "is to empower individuals and to educate citizens, legislators and opinion makers about public policies that enhance personal and economic freedom."
Jeff MacSwan is an American linguist and educational researcher, working in the United States. He is currently Professor of Applied Linguistics and Language Education in the Division of Language, Literacy, and Social Inquiry in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland. He is also Professor in the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program there, and Affiliate Professor in the University of Maryland Linguistics Department and Center for the Advanced Study of Language. He is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and of the National Education Policy Center (NEPC).
The National Academy of Education (NAEd) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization in the United States that advances high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Founded in 1965, the NAEd currently consists of over 300 elected regular members, international associates, and emeriti. Members and international associates are elected based on the outstanding scholarship related to education and provide pro-bono service on committees that provide advice to policymakers and practitioners on pressing issues in education. In addition, Academy members and other scholars are also deeply engaged in NAEd’s professional development programs focused on preparing the next generation of education researchers. Since 1986, NAEd has administered the NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, and since 2011, NAEd has administered the NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program, both funded by The Spencer Foundation.
Kris D. Gutiérrez is an American professor of learning sciences and literacy. She currently holds the Carol Liu Chair in Educational Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and formerly held the Inaugural Provost's Chair at University of Colorado, Boulder. She is professor emerita of the University of California, Los Angeles. She has specialized in "culture and learning in urban schools," according to the Los Angeles Times. She is a member of the National Academy of Education. In April 2020, Gutiérrez was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Bridget Terry Long is the 12th Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Saris Professor of Education and Economics. She is an economist whose research focuses on college access and success. Long is a Faculty Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member of the National Academy of Education.
Dennis N. Epple is a US American economist and currently the Thomas Lord University Professor of Economics at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business. He belongs to the leading scholars in the fields of the economics of education, and urban and real estate economics.
Helen F. Ladd is an education economist who currently works as the Susan B. King Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Economics at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. In recognition of her research on the economics of education, she has been elected to the National Academy for Education and the National Academy of Sciences.
Jeannette Louise Oakes was an American educational theorist and Presidential Professor Emerita in Educational Equity at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. She was the founder and former director of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access (IDEA), the former director of the University of California’s All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity (ACCORD), as well as the founding director of Center X, which is UCLA’s reform-focused program for the preparation of teachers and school administrators.
Schools of Opportunity is a project that aims to recognize public high schools that minimize opportunity gaps with outstanding education. The National Education Policy Center, a non-profit education policy research center, created Schools of Opportunity as a project in 2014.
Tyrone C. Howard is an American educator, academic, and author. He is a professor of Education in the School of Education and Information Studies and the Founder and executive director of the Black Male Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also serves as the Pritzker Family Endowed Chair in Education to Strengthen Children & Families, Faculty Director of UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools, as well as Director of UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children & Families.
Christopher Lubienski is a professor of education policy at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he is also Director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy. He is also a fellow at the National Education Policy Center, Guest Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Global Studies of Educational Leadership and Collaboration at East China Normal University in Shanghai, and Adjunct Professor at Murdoch University in Western Australia, where he also served as Sir Walter Murdoch Visiting Professor.
Laura W. Perna is GSE Centennial Professor of Education, Founding Executive Director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, and Vice Provost for Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).
