Working Papers
Our working papers promote dialogue about privatization in education. The papers are diverse in topic, including research reviews and original research, and are grounded in a range of disciplinary and methodological approaches. The views presented in the papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Center.
Submit a Paper
The Center encourages submission of new research. Please email ncspe@columbia.edu with an abstract or draft submission.
Evaluating Public-Private Partnership Schools in Punjab, Pakistan, WP-247, 2023
Ali Hasan Ansari
This study evaluates four Public-Private Partnership (PPP) school programs in the Punjab province of Pakistan using Henry M. Levin’s (2002) framework to assess implications for choice, efficiency, equity, and social cohesion. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
Constraints on Public Schools from Instituting Changes to Compete with Private Schools: Evidence from Nepal, WP-246, 2023
Priyadarshani Joshi
Using a mixed-methods analysis of public secondary school principals’ perceptions in Nepal, Priyadarshani Joshi investigates what motivates and constrains public schools from reforming to compete with private schools. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
School Board Privatization: A Case Study of New York City Charter Schools, WP-245, 2021
Author(s): Daniel Sparks
Through a detailed examination of board memberships for the 268 charter schools in operation in the 2020-21 academic year in the five boroughs of New York, Daniel Sparks documents the strong presence of business leaders in steering charter schools and assesses the implications of this heavy influence. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
Diversifying Neighborhoods, Diversifying Schools?, WP-244, 2021
Author(s): Kfir Mordechay and Jennifer B. Ayscue
White and middle-class residents have increasingly opted to live in central urban neighborhoods, reversing decades of urban decline, potentially bringing new benefits to cities. Yet little is known about the educational implications of this shift. Using data from the Census and the National Center for Educational Statistics, Kfir Mordechay and Jennifer B. Ayscue examine New York City’s gentrifying areas and the changing racial diversity in schools. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
Parental Preferences for Charter Schools in North Carolina, WP-243, 2020
Author(s): Helen F. Ladd and Mavzuna Turaeva
Helen F. Ladd and Mavzuna Turaeva use information on the charter school choices made by North Carolina families, separately by race or ethnicity, who switched their child from a traditional public school (TPS) to a charter school in 2015-16 to explore how such choices affect racial segregation between schools and racial isolation within charter schools. They find that the movement of white, but not minority, switchers to charter schools increases racial segregation between schools. Further, using a conditional logit model to estimate revealed preferences, they find that the value parents place on the racial composition of individual charter schools differs by the race and income of the switchers. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
Charter Schools and Special Education: Institutional Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation, WP-242, 2020
Author(s): Katharine Parham
Katharine Parham explores the dual institutions of charter schools and special education, and the unique issues that arise when an institution whose organizational structure is grounded in autonomy is forced to comply, by law, with significant regulatory demands. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
Examining Variation within the Charter School Sector, WP-241, 2020
Author(s): Charisse Gulosino and Jonah Liebert
Using propensity score matching and virtual control records in examining test scores in English Language Arts (ELA) and math for 2009-10 through 2011-12 in California, Charisse Gulosino and Jonah Liebert find that urban charter schools boost results relative to their matched comparison groups of traditional public schools while suburban and rural charter schools post similar results in ELA and inferior results in math relative to their matched comparison groups of traditional public schools. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
School Autonomy in Denver: The Impact of Innovation Schools, WP-240, 2020
Author(s): Philip Gigliotti
Philip Gigliotti analyzes Innovation Schools in Denver from its inception in 2009 through 2014. Gigliotti focuses on student scores on annual state tests in reading, math, and writing to measure the effectiveness of greater managerial authority. He finds that while Innovation Schools on average brought about impressive results by the second year of implementation, these results soon after declined substantially. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
Drivers and Hurdles to the Regulation of Education Markets: The Political Economy of Chilean Reform, WP-239, 2019
Author(s): Adrián Zancajo
Adrián Zancajo explores the striking reversal of voucher policy in Chile in 2014. Through examination of 30 key policy documents and interviews with 37 stakeholders involved in this transformation, Zancajo reveals a telling story about the forces in Chile for and against modification of the country’s market-based system of schooling. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
Educational Privatization in China: A Case Study, WP-238, 2019
Author(s): Yiwen Wang
Yiwen Wang focuses on Mei Jia International School, a private boarding school for students in grades 7 to 9 in Guiyang, capital of the inland province of Guizhou and home to 4.8 million people. Through a series of interviews with Mei Jia’s principal, teachers, and students, Wang addresses the school’s relationship with the government as well as its method of management, its finances, student enrollment, and teacher recruitment. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
Charter Schools and Race in Kansas City, WP-237, 2019
Author(s): Patrick Denice, Michael DeArmond, and Matthew Carr
In exploring the enrollment data of 17 new charter schools that opened from 2011 to 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri, the authors find that a disproportionate number of white students transferred into new charter schools, that white students appeared to be transferring into new charter schools with more white students, and, perhaps most significantly, that much of this racial sorting was associated with two new charter schools. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.
School Autonomy and Its Impact, WP-236, 2019
Author(s): Ayesha K. Hashim, Susan C. Bush-Mecenas, and Katharine O. Strunk
In analyzing data from principal surveys and case studies at a broad sample of schools in Los Angeles from 2011 to 2014, Ayesha K. Hashim, Susan C. Bush-Mecenas, and Katharine O. Strunk find wide variation in the implementation of autonomy and close association between faithful implementation and better instruction. For more about this working paper, see the NCSPE announcement.