Author ORCID Identifier:

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2390-2604

Date of Graduation

12-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Education Policy (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Education Reform

Advisor/Mentor

Wolf, Patrick

Committee Member

Patrinos, Harry

Second Committee Member

Maranto, Robert

Third Committee Member

Simon Goerger

Keywords

Education Savings Accounts; Educational Freedom; Learning Loss; Political Tolerance; School Choice; Student Achievement

Abstract

This dissertation explores the relationships among educational freedom, democratic outcomes, and family choice in the United States. Through three complementary studies, it examines how school choice interacts with civic education, student achievement, and parental behavior. Together, these studies provide a comprehensive view of how educational freedom is reshaping American schooling. The first study investigates whether private schooling supports or undermines democratic values. Using survey data from students in both private and public schools, it finds that private school students demonstrate stronger knowledge of American government and greater support for democratic norms. These results suggest that private schools may play a vital role in fostering civic understanding and tolerance. The second study analyzes how different forms of educational freedom influenced learning outcomes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using state-level scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), it finds that states with more robust school choice options before the pandemic were associated with better academic progress during the pandemic for economically disadvantaged students. Public school choice was beneficial for economically disadvantaged students, but not for the overall NAEP sample, while states with more accessible homeschooling policies experienced significantly better academic results post-COVID. The third study examines Arkansas’s Education Freedom Account (EFA) program, one of the newest education savings account (ESA) initiatives in the country. Using administrative data, it documents who participates, how funds are spent to tailor students’ educational experiences, and how well students score on standardized tests. The findings show that the EFA program successfully serves diverse populations and that families use funds in ways consistent with their educational goals. Collectively, these studies contribute to the growing literature on school choice by demonstrating that educational freedom can enforce the pluralistic views of school choice. The findings underscore the importance of educational choice and evaluating how it affects students, families, and society altogether.

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