Articles by Patrick Wolf
Good News! Students with Disabilities Are Overrepresented in Private School Choice Programs.
Critics predicted that, once private school choice was implemented on a large scale, students with disabilities would become highly concentrated in the public school system. That hasn’t happened. We conservatively estimate that 258,844 students with disabilities are participating in private school choice programs. Students with disabilities are being served in the private school choice sector at a rate higher than that in the public school sector.
Think Higher Education Has Clear Standards for Academic Freedom? Think Again.
Noelle McAffee, a philosophy professor at Emory University, and two colleagues were arrested by university police in April 2024 during pro-Palestine protests on campus. The three faculty members filed a complaint against their university, arguing that Emory violated its own free expression policy. Every week seems to bring a new controversy regarding suspected or confirmed violations of academic freedom. Why are these conflicts so common?
Imagine There’s No Politics: A Review of the Northern Report
Paragons of the two most politically storied and opposed families once joined forces to create landmark legislation for American education. A quarter century later, even the nonpartisan research it wrought is in shambles. In the fall of 2017, over 50 education researchers gathered to discuss their projects authorized under the auspices of a Regional Education Lab (REL) funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
New U.S. Census Bureau Data Confirm Growth in Homeschooling Amid Pandemic
The United States Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, an online survey designed to measure social and economic trends among U.S. households since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, offers new insight on educational trends across the country. In particular, recent data from the survey provide information on homeschool participation, its growth during the pandemic, and current homeschool estimates nationally and by state.
What Cabrini Can Teach Us about the School Choice Movement
The movie Cabrini tells the inspiring tale of Mother Frances Cabrini’s heroic work to provide dignity to Italian immigrants in New York City in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Most Italian Americans lived in desperate poverty at that time and were confined to slums where disorder reigned supreme in the forms of malnutrition, child labor, prostitution, and disease.
Realizing School Choice – - Patrick J. Wolf
Government programs accomplish nothing unless and until they are implemented. How they are designed and administered influences how beneficial they are to families. Frederick Hess acknowledges the important roles of policy design and implementation in his compelling essay “Opening Doors for School Choice.” He states, “practicality matters,” as programs should be designed to appeal to the widest possible range of families.
School Choice Advances in the States
Remember the Red for Ed movement? Three years ago, teachers in West Virginia massed on the state capitol by the thousands, demanding salary increases and seeking to stop legislation that would have brought private-school choice to the state. For the most part, the teachers succeeded. They got their raise and prevented all but the creation of a few public charter schools.
What’s Next in New Orleans
“Bad old OPSB.” When I started working as an education reporter in New Orleans in late 2012, I heard that phrase time and time again. The city was then seven years into the post-Katrina education revolution that wrested control of the public schools from the seven-member Orleans Parish School Board. Unheard-of academic gains followed the city’s switch to a near-universal charter-school system, yet returning to failure always felt as close as the next hurricane.
Hoosiers Score Benefits from Private School Choice
This week the sporting world turns its attention to Indiana as it hosts the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, commonly called “March Madness.” Indiana is a fitting venue for the tournament, since it is known for its great basketball tradition and the classic basketball movie Hoosiers. Indiana also is known for giving parents choices regarding their children’s education, including private options. New research suggests that the Hoosier State has scored big-time with school choice.
Ultra-low temperature water-gas shift reaction catalyzed by homogeneous Ru-complexes in a membrane reactor - membrane development and proof of concept - Catalysis Science & Technology (RSC Publishing)
Ultra-low temperature water-gas shift reaction catalyzed by homogeneous Ru-complexes in a membrane reactor – membrane development and proof of concept A monolithic membrane reactor combining the supported ionic liquid-phase (SILP) catalyzed ultra-low temperature water-gas shift reaction (WGSR) with in-situ product removal is presented.
The New York Times Lets a Senator Spread Misinformation. Again.
Sen. Kamala Harris The Saturday June 13 print New York Times carries an interview of Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, conducted by a Times political reporter, Lisa Lerer. Harris, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination, has been in the news recently as a possible vice-presidential candidate. In the interview, which the Times publishes question-and-answer style, Harris says, “Many cities in our country spend one-third of their entire budget on policing.
Harvard Law Professor’s Attack on Homeschooling Is a Flawed Failure. And Terribly Timed, Too. - Education Next
The May-June issue of Harvard Magazine carries an article, “The Risks of Homeschooling,” promoting the argument of Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Bartholet that the U.S. should enact “a presumptive ban” on homeschooling. Homeschooling is essentially unregulated, Bartholet argues, and many parents adopt this method of educating their children for nefarious reasons including indoctrinating the parents’ values into their children, isolating the children from society, and abusing them.
Do impacts on test scores even matter? Lessons from long-run outcomes in school choice research
Key Points For the past 20 years, almost every major education reform has rested on a common assumption: Standardized test scores are an accurate and appropriate measure of success and failure. This study is a meta-analysis on the effect that school choice has on educational attainment and shows that, at least for school choice programs, there is a weak relationship between impacts on test scores and later attainment outcomes.
Cu carbonyls enhance the performance of Ru-based SILP water-gas shift catalysts: a combined in situ DRIFTS and DFT study
Cu carbonyls enhance the performance of Ru-based SILP water–gas shift catalysts: a combined in situ DRIFTS and DFT study† Dominik Blaumeiser,‡a Robert Stepić,‡bd Patrick Wolf,c Christian R. Wick,be Marco Haumann, c Peter Wasserscheid,cf David M.
Cu carbonyls enhance the performance of Ru-based SILP water-gas shift catalysts: A combined in-situ DRIFTS and DFT study
Cu carbonyls enhance the performance of Ru-based SILP water-gas shift catalysts: A combined in-situ DRIFTS and DFT study Dominik Blaumeiser, Robert Stepic, Patrick Wolf, Christian Wick, Marco Haumann, Peter Wasserscheid, David Matthew Smith, Ana-Suncana Smith, Tanja Bauer and Joerg Libuda Abstract Ru-based supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) catalysts efficiently promote the water-gas shift reaction (WGSR). The addition of CuCl further improves the performance.
Improving the Performance of Supported Ionic Liquid Phase (SILP) catalysts for the Ultra-Low-Temperature Water-Gas Shift Reaction Using Metal Salt Additives
Improving the Performance of Supported Ionic Liquid Phase (SILP) catalysts for the Ultra-Low-Temperature Water-Gas Shift Reaction Using Metal Salt Additives Patrick Wolf, Manfred Aubermann, Moritz Wolf, Tanja Bauer, Dominik Blaumeiser, Robert Stepic, Christian Wick, David Matthew Smith, Ana-Suncana Smith, Peter Wasserscheid, Joerg Libuda and Marco Haumann Abstract Supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) catalyst systems containing homogeneous Ru-complexes dissolved in ionic liquids (ILs)...
What Happened in the Bayou? Examining the Effects of the Louisiana Scholarship Program - Education Next
Children carry their books into Alice Harte Elementary charter school in New Orleans. The state’s scholarship program took place in the context of other recent reforms. “Everything works somewhere; nothing works everywhere,” writes Dylan Wiliam in his book Creating the Schools Our Children Need. To that I would add, everything works at something; nothing works at everything.
On Goalpost Moving: The right way to evaluate private school choice programs – Education Next
The Friedmans, with friend, heading to Milton’s 90th birthday party. The Miami Herald recently re-published an op-ed originally appearing in The Conversation. In the essay, education professors Christopher Lubienski and Joel Malin wonder why states keep adopting and expanding private school choice programs when such initiatives, in their view, have failed.
Newspaper Hit Piece on Charter Schools Misses The Mark
No words in the English language are more thoroughly guaranteed to scare a reader away — or put her to sleep — than “first in a five part series.” So one savvy newspaper editor once taught me. Give reporters Jean Rimbach and Abbott Koloff of NorthJersey.com some credit, I suppose, for daring to persist past that barrier.
Some Regulations Deter Private Schools from Participating in Voucher Programs
Regulations of school voucher programs can be well-intended. Policymakers may hope to prevent “bad” schools from operating or may limit schools’ ability to be selective in their admissions procedures in the name of establishing equal access to private options. But do top-down regulations of school voucher programs come with any unintended consequences? Our just-released study suggests some do.
Some Regulations Deter Private Schools from Participating in Voucher Programs - Education Next
Regulations of school voucher programs can be well-intended. Policymakers may hope to prevent “bad” schools from operating or may limit schools’ ability to be selective in their admissions procedures in the name of establishing equal access to private options. But do top-down regulations of school voucher programs come with any unintended consequences? Our just-released study suggests some do.
Private School Choice Helps Students Avoid Prison and Unplanned Pregnancies
Schools are expected to help shape the character skills needed to live a good life and contribute to society. In theory, programs that help families send their children to a private school could improve character skills through exposure to peers and school cultures that discourage risky behaviors. Do private school choice programs actually help achieve this goal?
Private School Choice Helps Students Avoid Prison and Unplanned Pregnancies - Education Next
By Corey DeAngelis and Patrick J. Wolf 02/26/2019 Print | NO PDF | Share Schools are expected to help shape the character skills needed to live a good life and contribute to society. In theory, programs that help families send their children to a private school could improve character skills through exposure to peers and school cultures that discourage risky behaviors. Do private school choice programs actually help achieve this goal?
Article On School Choice Ignores Key Evidence: Existing body of research on the impact of school vouchers is both deep and broad - Education Next
Yong Zhao, “Side Effects in Education: Winners and Losers in School Voucher Programs.” Phi Delta Kappan, 100(5), pp. 63-66. Checked by Patrick J. Wolf University of Kansas Professor Yong Zhao has jumped into the school choice debate with his recent essay in the Phi Delta Kappan. Welcome, Dr. Zhao. Zhao makes several important claims about private school choice. He says that researchers who are proponents of school choice exaggerate the positive tilt of the findings.
The Shortchanging of Public Charter School Students: Why Do They Get so Much Less per Pupil Than Students at Traditional Schools?
In December, we released our study Charter School Funding: (More) Inequity in the City. We meticulously tracked all public school revenue — including federal, state, local, and nonpublic dollars — during the 2015-16 school year in 14 cities with high concentrations of public charter schools. Charter schools in those cities received on average 27 percent less total revenue per pupil than traditional public schools, a gap of $5,828 per student.
The Shortchanging of Public Charter School Students: Why Do They Get So Much Less Per Pupil Than Students at Traditional Schools?
Kate Patterson for The Washington Post via Getty Images In December, we released our study Charter School Funding: (More) Inequity in the City. We meticulously tracked all public school revenue — including federal, state, local, and nonpublic dollars — during the 2015-16 school year in 14 cities with high concentrations of public charter schools. Charter schools in those cities received on average 27 percent less total revenue per pupil than traditional public schools, a gap of $5,828 per student.
Do Voucher Regulations Reduce Anticipated Voucher Program Participation and School Quality?
What happened in Louisiana? The first experimental evaluations in the world to find negative effects of a private school choice program on student achievement were of the Louisiana Scholarship Program. Education policy scholars have been debating what went wrong in the bayou for over three years now. Some researchers have argued that Louisiana’s onerous regulations deterred the best private schools from participating in the program.
Do Voucher Regulations Reduce Anticipated Voucher Program Participation and School Quality? - Education Next
What happened in Louisiana? The first experimental evaluations in the world to find negative effects of a private school choice program on student achievement were of the Louisiana Scholarship Program. Education policy scholars have been debating what went wrong in the bayou for over three years now. Some researchers have argued that Louisiana’s onerous regulations deterred the best private schools from participating in the program.
Study Finds Declining Student Achievement, Increased Harm to School Choice Since Common Core
While U.S. academic performance has declined since the broad implementation of Common Core, school choice programs are increasingly hamstrung by regulations that require private schools to adopt a single curriculum standards-based test as a condition for receiving public money, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.
OPINION: Study Finds Declining Student Achievement, Increased Harm To School Choice Since Common Core
While U.S. academic performance has declined since the broad implementation of Common Core, school choice programs are increasingly hamstrung by regulations that require private schools to adopt a single curriculum standards-based test as a condition for receiving public money, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.
No, One Limited Study Does Not Prove School Vouchers Don’t Work: Students in the sample weren’t even participating in school-voucher programs - Education Next
CHECKED: Robert C. Pianta and Arya Ansari, “Does Attendance in Private Schools Predict Student Outcomes at Age 15? Evidence from a Longitudinal Study,” Educational Researcher, Online First. “New Study Finds Low-Income Students Do Not Benefit from Private Schooling: Findings refute administration’s call for $1 billion for private school vouchers.” Such was the headline of a press release issued by the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education.
Center for Educational Freedom
Cato’s Center for Educational Freedom (CEF) is grounded in the understanding that education works best for all people—from individual students to all of society—when it is rooted in the free decisions of those to be educated, and those who educate. In elementary and secondary education CEF scholars seek to shift policy to empower parents to choose the education they think is best for their unique children, and for educators to teach as they see fit.
Educational Freedom Isn’t a Threat to Democracy - Education Next
Horace Mann – often called the father of traditional American public schooling – just celebrated his 222nd birthday. While Mann has been gone from this Earth for quite a long time, his thoughts on the intersection between common schools and democratic ideals continue to hold strong today.
Educational Freedom Isn’t a Threat to Democracy
Horace Mann — often called the father of traditional American public schooling — just celebrated his 222ndbirthday. While Mann has been gone from this Earth for quite a long time, his thoughts on the intersection between common schools and democratic ideals continue to hold strong today.
A Flawed Critique of Our School Choice Achievement-Attainment Divide Study
Last week, Mike Petrilli, President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, published a series of blog posts at the Education Gadfly and Education Next critiquing an AEI study by Dr. Collin Hitt, Dr. Michael McShane, and myself discussing the surprising disconnect between the achievement and attainment effects from school choice programs in the US.
A New "Report" Misleads on School Vouchers - Education Next
In George Orwell’s classic novel, 1984, the author paints a picture of a dystopian society ruled by an all-powerful central government. One of Big Brother’s strategies for keeping people in line is to modify the existing language into Newspeak, where key words are “not merely changed into something different, but actually contradictory of what they used to be.” War actually is peace. Freedom is slavery. You get it.
Programs Benefit Disadvantaged Students
School voucher programs, which allow eligible families to send their children to private schools with the help of public funds, have sparked controversy since the first such initiative was launched in Milwaukee in 1991. Today, 28 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) operate 54 private-school-choice programs, which include not only government-issued vouchers but also tax-credit scholarships, education savings accounts (ESAs), and town-tuitioning programs for rural families.
Taking Stock of Private-School Choice: Scholars review the research on statewide programs - Education Next
In the past few years, four states have established programs that provide public financial support to students who choose to attend a private school. These programs—a tax-credit-funded scholarship initiative in Florida and voucher programs in Indiana, Louisiana, and Ohio—offer a glimpse of what expansive statewide choice might look like. What have we learned about the students and schools who choose to participate in these programs? What academic outcomes have students reaped?
A Story, Not a Study - Education Next
A recent Wall Street Journal analysis of the Milwaukee voucher program concludes that the share of voucher students in a private school is the key to success—that private schools with few students using vouchers do well, while schools with many students using vouchers do poorly. If accurate, this finding could be of value. It would suggest that perhaps there is a “magic formula” that leads to higher performance for all students in schools participating in a voucher program.
Four Prerequisites for a Productive Education Debate
Policy scholars have an obligation to speak truth to power. The current hyperpolarized political environment makes it even more important that scholars who focus on education weigh in with their analyses and opinions regarding the vital policy questions of the day—such as student testing, teacher evaluation, and school choice. Some approaches to joining the public discussion are better than others.
Four Prerequisites for a Productive Education Debate - Education Week
Policy scholars have an obligation to speak truth to power. The current hyperpolarized political environment makes it even more important that scholars who focus on education weigh in with their analyses and opinions regarding the vital policy questions of the day—such as student testing, teacher evaluation, and school choice. Some approaches to joining the public discussion are better than others.
Opinion: Atlanta charter schools deliver more learning for less money
A guest columnist contends Atlanta charter schools deliver more learning for less money than the city’s traditional public schools. Patrick J. Wolf is a distinguished professor of education policy at the University of Arkansas and co-author of “Bigger Bang, Fewer Bucks? The Productivity of Public Charter Schools in Eight U.S. Cities.” One of those eight cities is Atlanta. I wanted to clarify which charter schools in Atlanta were examined and sent the researchers a current list of APS charters.
The Biggest Little Election You’ve Never Heard Of
Local school board elections tend to be sleepy, sedate affairs with little more at stake than ego. Not in Douglas County, Colorado. This November, the choice between two philosophically opposed slates in a deeply divisive election could determine the constitutional future of private school choice. How did we get here? In 2011, the Douglas County school board attempted to launch the nation’s first district-created universal voucher program, triggering a 6-year court battle.
Dynamic Equilibria in Supported Ionic Liquid Phase (SILP) Catalysis: In-Situ IR Spectroscopy Identifies [Ru(CO)xCly]n Species in Water Gas Shift Catalysis - Catalysis Science & Technology (RSC Publishing)
Ru-based supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) systems efficiently catalyze the low-temperature water-gas shift reaction (WGSR). While previous studies suggest that Ru-carbonyl species play an important role in the mechanism, detailed knowledge on the catalytically active species is still missing. To identify these carbonyl complexes, we apply in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) in combination with density functional theory (DFT).
Unintended Impacts of Regulations on the Quality of Schooling Options
When the first random-assignment study ever to find a negative effect from a voucher program was released more than two years ago, a debate broke out over what role, if any, the Louisiana Scholarship Program’s regulations played. Some argued that Louisiana’s onerous regulatory environment – particularly its open admissions requirement and state test mandate – drove away better-performing private schools from participating in the program.
That’s Not Fair!
We parents all have heard the claim that something wasn’t fair. “Suzie got a bigger piece of cake than I did!” “Tommy got to go fishing while I had to clean the garage!” “Malachi had a lot more money spent on his education because you sent him to a traditional public school and me to a public charter school!” Well, maybe we haven’t actually heard that last one very often but it would be a more legitimate gripe than the other ones.
The cross is symbol of suffering and comfort
The cross probably is the most easily recognized and widely known symbol in all the world. It can be seen everywhere in human culture and history. It is so simple that we overlook its importance. In every structure that we build, the cross is essential in its strength and integrity. Construction is all based upon being level and plumb. One dimension must be perfectly flat, the other dimension must be perfectly straight, up and down.
“Don’t want school choice” #SaidNoKidEver
Americans demand customization and choices among service providers in most aspects of their lives but, strangely, are stuck with a one-size-fits-all model of public education. A Choice Media parody on YouTube called “We Don’t Want School Choice (`Options are Bad)” advertised on Twitter with the hashtag “#SaidNoKidEver” to make the point: Things are changing. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia permit charter schools to operate as independent public schools.
Production of 1,6 Hexanediol from Tetrahydropyran-2-methanol by Dehydration-Hydration and Hydrogenation
In this work we present an alternate method for the conversion of tetrahydropyran-2-methanol (THP2M), a cellulose-derived renewable building block, to 1,6-hexanediol (1,6-HDO). Our method is composed of three consecutive steps that either use relatively inexpensive catalysts or no catalyst at all. First, THP2M is catalytically dehydrated to 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrooxepine (THO) in up to 40% yield.
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