Do College and Career Readiness and Early College Success in Indiana Vary Depending on Whether Students Attend Public, Charter, or Private Voucher High Schools?

Indiana has a robust portfolio of high school options, including traditional public schools, charter schools, and private schools that accept Indiana Choice Scholarships (private voucher schools). This study identified the type of high school enrollment (type of high school and voucher status) among the student populations of four cohorts (who were in grade 9 in 2010/11--2013/14) and examined those students' performance on indicators of college and career readiness and early college success. The study found that charter school students and recipients of private school vouchers (voucher recipients) were more likely than other students to be Black or to be eligible for the national school lunch program (an indicator of low socioeconomic status). In addition, students in private voucher schools who did not receive vouchers (nonvoucher students) performed similarly to or better than students in traditional public schools and charter school students on most indicators of college and career readiness, after other factors were adjusted for. And voucher recipients performed similarly to or better than students in traditional public schools on most indicators of college and career readiness, after other factors were adjusted for, whereas charter school students performed similarly to or worse than students in traditional public schools. Finally, nonvoucher students performed better than students in all other types of high school enrollment on one indicator of early college success, completing all attempted credits in the first year, after other factors were adjusted for. District administrators, charter school leaders and authorizers, and leaders of private voucher schools could use these findings to inform the design of policies to improve college and career readiness and early college success. [For the study brief, see ED611173; for the study snapshot, see ED611172; and for the appendixes, see ED611174.]