Dive Brief:

• Test score studies of voucher program students in Ohio have failed to yield definitive results about the program's effectiveness. 
• Students using the vouchers to attend a private school of their choice have significantly higher scores on reading tests than the students in the failing schools they left behind, but perform worse than their peers in math. ​
• Despite being generally better-off and higher achieving academically than their non-voucher peers, students who shifted to private schools saw their performance regress more sharply than those who stayed behind.

Dive Insight:

The Trump Administration made vouchers a hot topic once again as earlier this year as President Donald Trump proposed spending an additional $1 billion to promote school choice. Inconclusive or non-positive results such as those in Ohio could make that type of an initiative a tough sell to the public.

That would likely hold true for much of the nation as well, should similar studies yield the same type of erratic results. The answer to  whether or not school vouchers provide a better education or simply a different one has yet to be filled in on the state’s final score sheet.