Brookings Education Choice and Competition Index 2013

The Education Choice and Competition Index Background and Results 2013

Rank Districts by Overall Grade                                                         Rank Districts by Availability of Alternative Schools Score                                                         Rank Districts by Virtual Schools Score                                                         Rank Districts by Popularity of Schools Reflected in Funding Score                                                         Rank Districts by Restructure or Close Undersubscribed Schools Score                                                         Rank Districts by Assignment Mechanism Score                                                         Rank Districts by Application Score                                                         Rank Districts by Comparable Standards and Assessments Score                                                         Rank Districts by Gain Scores Calculated Score                                                         Rank Districts by Accessible On-line Information Score                                                         Rank Districts by Relevant Performance Data Score                                                         Rank Districts by Understandable performance data Score                                                         Rank Districts by Transportation  Score                                                         Rank Districts by District School Quality Score
	Rank	School District	Grade	County	Student Population	No. of Schools
	1	Recovery District	A	Orleans Parish, LA	47,493	126
	2	New York City	A-	New York County, NY	1,150,795	2,431
	3	Orleans Parish	A-	Orleans Parish, LA	51,042	119
	4	Houston	B	Harris County, TX	220,754	471
	5	Denver	B	Denver County, CO	87,147	229
	6	Minneapolis	B	Hennepin County, MN	46,165	122
	7	Washington DC	B-	District Of Columbia, DC	72,875	295
	8	San Diego	B-	San Diego County, CA	146,207	309
	9	Tucson	B-	Pima County, AZ	66,505	215
	9	Chicago	B-	Cook County, IL	427,945	961

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Executive summary:

"The United States is in the middle of a K-12 education revolution that is characterized by many dramatic transformations — among them, a shift toward more choice by parents in where their children are educated with public funds. This shift is signified by, among other things, the growth of public charter schools, the adoption of open enrollment systems for public schools, the expansion of statewide voucher programs, and continued increases in the availability of technology-based distance/virtual education.

"Although the expansion of choice in education is driven by a widely-recognized market model, which posits that allowing students and their families to choose schools and backpack their public funds will force education service providers to innovate and compete on the quality of their product, there is little available information about the current state of school choice in American education. For that reason, the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings compiles an annual Education Choice and Competition Index (ECCI) of 100+ U.S. school districts. The ECCI is based on scoring rubrics within thirteen categories of policy and practice that are important to the availability and quality of choice and to the competition created by choice among providers of education services.

"Based on these scoring principles, the Recovery School District in New Orleans and New York City Public Schools occupy the highest rankings on the 2013 ECCI, with scores of 83 and 73 points out of 100, respectively. Both districts occupied those same rankings in 2012, illustrating a larger trend uncovered by the ECCI: districts demonstrate little year-to-year change in their commitment to or design of school choice. The correlation between this year’s and last year’s aggregate district scores is 0.95. There are, however, exceptions. Denver dramatically improved its ranking, moving from 24th to fifth place, based on its implementation of a unified application process for all its public schools, including charters.

"Despite their high rankings, the Recovery School District and New York City, along with all other top-scoring districts, need improvements. And, as demonstrated by the 34 districts that received an “F” grade, zip code assignment and other policies antithetical to choice still represent standard operating procedure for many school districts across the country."