Family Reflections on the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program: Final Summary Report
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
1-1-2009
Abstract
During the spring of 2004, the first federally funded voucher program – the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) - was established. The School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) recognized that publicly-funded school vouchers represent a relatively new and unstudied approach to school choice and education reform. To address this need, the SCDP requested and received funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to capture the “Parent and Student Voices on the OSP.” A total of 110 families, representing 180 students, that applied during the first two years of the Program volunteered to participate in this study. As the last installment in a four-part annual series that began in 2005, this report summarizes key findings from the previous reports and provides a general overview of the respondents’ “reflections” upon their three or four years in the Program. Using a phenomenological approach, which includes focus groups, personal interviews and keypad polling information gathering techniques, participants were given multiple opportunities to share or describe their experiences. A consumer framework was often used to contextualize the families’ experiences. Their insights continue to shape the scope and direction of the OSP, and they will help inform other efforts to provide low income families with access to quality school options.
Citation
Stewart, T., Wolf, P. J., Cornman, S. Q., McKenzie-Thompson, K., & Butcher, J. (2009). Family Reflections on the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program: Final Summary Report. School Choice Demonstration Project. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/scdp/28