Peterson, P. E., Howell, W. G., Wolf, P. J., & Campbell, D. E., (2003)

‘School Vouchers: Results from Randomized Experiments’

in Hoxby, C. (ed.), The Economics of School Choice, University of Chicago Press

• Assesses how 3 small-scale school voucher systems affected low-income families and their children.
• Uses the fact that vouchers are assigned to eligible applicants by randomised lotteries to create a ‘control group’.
  

  Key Results:

• Finds that test score gains for pupils given vouchers are statistically significant only for African American pupils.
• However, parents whose children went to private schools (using the vouchers) were significantly better satisfied with numerous aspects of their schools including safety, teaching, and class size.