Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This paper looks at the change in academic outcomes and graduation rates of Indiana public district schools based on their network proximity (drive time, based on street lengths and speed limits) to private schools participating in the statewide K–12 school voucher program. The research builds on a previous analysis of the state's voucher program on the academic outcomes of Indiana public schools and will add to the school choice competitive effects literature. The methodology for this research builds on previous school choice competitive effects research through the utilization of network proximity by looking at the state’s road network, allowing for distance to be computed in drive time, and looking at a variety of drive time distances from public district schools and not just the previously used set mile radii (Misra, Grimes, & Rogers, 2012; Figlio & Hart, 2014; Egalite, 2016). The primary focus of this research is to see if there is a tipping point in the school choice marketplace by analyzing all public district schools that are a set network proximity from participating voucher schools with an aggregate n ≥ x participating voucher students and using all potential values for x to determine whether a tipping point exists regarding program participation and the competitive effects of the program. The competition measures analyzed include Math and ELA scores, utilized in previous school choice competitive effects research, and the added measure of graduation rates that are available prior to the program’s inception up through the most currently available data via a public records request.