The Comprehensive Guide to School Choice
Progress happens when we reach alignment. Learn about school choice and how it works.
Scroll to FAQs
Glossary Terms
- Accreditation
- Formal process where an external body evaluates an institution to ensure it meets quality standards. Schools can be accredited by the state, private organizations or both.
- Authorizers
- Entities including districts, state agencies, universities, and non-profits that approve, oversee and evaluate charter schools, ensuring they meet performance standards.
- Criterion-Referenced Test
- Assessment that measures student performance against a fixed set of predetermined learning standards, like most official state tests.
- Education Scholarship Accounts
- Accounts authorized and funded by states that parents can use for approved education expenses like private school tuition, online programs, tutoring, textbooks and therapies.
- Education Service Provider
- A vendor that sells educational goods or services, including courses, textbooks, therapy, tutoring, computers, educational software, test fees and more.
- Education Tax Credits
- Benefit that reduces taxes owed, or offers extra money if refundable, by covering tuition and/or other education expenses, as part of a family’s annual state tax filing.
- Extracurricular
- Refers to activities students may participate in outside the academic curriculum, including sports, arts, clubs and community service.
- Homeschooling
- Personalized mode of learning where children are educated primarily under parental direction and mainly at home. It may be supplemented by co-ops, tutors and online courses.
- Learn Everywhere
- State-directed program that unbundles education and grant students official course credit for completing learning opportunities sponsored outside of a school.
- Microgrants
- Programs that allot supplemental funds to parents for students’ specific educational needs like materials, courses, workshops or tutoring, but not for private school tuition.
- Microschool
- Typically small, community-based school serving a handful of students, blending different educational approaches and operating in diverse locations.
- Norm-Referenced Test
- Assessment that compares student academic performance to a national sample of their peers.
- Open Enrollment, Interdistrict
- Policy that allows families to enroll their children in traditional public schools outside their district of residence.
- Open Enrollment, Intradistrict
- Policy that allows families to enroll their children in traditional public schools within their district of residence but outside their assigned zone.
- Private School Choice
- Policy that allows families to use vouchers, tax-credit scholarships or ESAs to pay for private school tuition (and possibly other education expenses).
- Public School Choice
- Policy that allows families to enroll their children full-time or part-time in public schools, either district or charter, outside their residentially assigned zone.
- Public Charter Schools
- Independently run, tuition-free, choice-based public schools granted greater flexibility in operations in exchange for higher accountability for performance or other metrics.
- Redlining
- Race-based discrimination limiting enrollment to students in certain areas, named for the historic practice of drawing red lines on maps to mark high-risk neighborhoods.
- Residential Assignment
- Policy where students are assigned to attend public schools within their local district based on their home address.
- School Vouchers
- State funds allocated to parents to cover private tuition costs, allowing students to attend approved private schools of their choice.
- Tax-Credit Scholarships
- Scholarship funds that help families pay private school tuition and sometimes other educational costs, raised by reducing taxes owed from individual or business donors.
- Tuition
- Cost charged by private schools for enrolling and providing education services to a student.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why doesn’t School Choice Matters rate states based on access to full-time virtual learning?
-
While the site’s components do not specifically address full-time virtual or hybrid education, these modes of learning should be as available as conventional classrooms - through residential assignment, open enrollment, charter and nonpublic schools.
- Why should policymakers consider student transportation in their education choice policies?
-
Lack of reliable transportation can form a barrier to student opportunity, especially for low-income families exercising choice and off campus training. Students cannot benefit from a school if they can’t reliably get there.
- Why is it important for charters to have multiple authorizers?
-
Charter schools need different authorizer options so they can partner with one that aligns with their goals. Diverse authorizer options increase the capacity to support quality and innovation, while providing an added layer of needed accountability.
- Why include transparent reporting requirements in open enrollment?
-
Transparent reporting requirements enhance accountability, ensuring the program is administered with fidelity. Having clear data on open seats in public schools helps ensure districts admit students fairly, as parents know where space is available.
- Why should public schools offer part-time enrollment?
-
Part-time enrollment offers flexibility for students with diverse needs by enabling them to try homeschooling or private school while keeping part of their public-school experience. It allows families to customize a student’s learning environment.
- Why is school / provider autonomy important for private school choice? Why is exemption from regulation important for charter schools?
-
Choice programs that protect autonomy in private schools encourage them to accept scholarships and serve students. Similarly, policies that exempt charter schools from key regulations promote the freedom to innovate and adapt to serve student needs.
- How are charter schools, private schools and homeschools held accountable?
-
The approach to assessing student learning should be based on the role of public funding and parent accountability. Because it combines the two, private school choice calls for a balanced approach of flexible academic assessment options.
- Why is open enrollment important in K-12 education?
-
Open enrollment promotes equal access by allowing students to attend any public school, regardless of ZIP code. It breaks down geographic barriers, fosters diversity and ensures every child can attend a public school that best serves their needs.
- What’s the difference between vouchers, tax credits and ESAs?
-
Vouchers provide parents with funding for private school tuition. Tax credits reduce taxes for donors who fund student scholarships. ESAs allocate funds to parents for various education expenses, including tuition, tutoring and materials.
