The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) released groundbreaking new, peer-reviewed academic research analyzing more than 100,000 low and middle-income Wisconsin students between the 2018-19 and 2022-23 school years, finding that students who remain in Wisconsin’s private school choice programs for multiple years make significantly greater gains in reading than comparable public-school students. The analysis measures performance on the English/Language Arts (ELA) portion of the Wisconsin Forward Exam.
The study is the first comprehensive student-level analysis of the statewide Wisconsin Parental Choice Program and Racine Parental Choice Program, as well as the first student-level analysis of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program in 15 years. It is stronger than other research in recent years that relied on school-level analysis. The Wisconsin and Racine results have been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of School Choice; the Milwaukee analysis using similar methods is currently under review at an academic journal.

The Quote: WILL Research Director, Will Flanders, stated, “This groundbreaking research provides some of the clearance evidence yet; school choice is a win for students. Our peer-reviewed analysis focuses on low-and-middle-income Wisconsin students who are the sole participants in Wisconsin’s unique choice programs. Our research should serve as a fire alarm for states evaluating new limitations or even repealing their choice programs. Make no mistake, those students will suffer due to their misjudgment.”
Director of the Free Enterprise Center at Concordia University-Wisconsin, Dr. Scott Niederjohn, stated, “Our research was subject to rigorous academic scrutiny during the peer review process. The result was clear: the longer students participate in the ‘Choice Program’ the better their academic results, on average.”

What We Found: Across Wisconsin’s three major private school choice programs (Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and Racine), students who remained enrolled longer consistently experienced stronger academic growth in reading than similar students who stayed in public schools. In Milwaukee, significant gains appeared after two years. In the statewide Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, gains became significant after three years. Students enrolled for four years or more experienced reading growth equivalent to more than a full additional year of learning compared to comparable public school students. The Racine Parental Choice Program also produced strong positive results, with participating students again demonstrating greater academic growth.

The Numbers:Students who remained in the Milwaukee and statewide school choice programs for four years or more experienced reading gains equivalent to more than one additional year of education compared to similar public school students.Significant academic gains emerged after two years in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and three years in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program.Students participating in the Racine Parental Choice Program experienced reading growth nearly equivalent to two additional years of learning compared to similar public school students.Across all three programs, a consistent pattern showed students who remained in school choice longer experienced greater academic growth than comparable students who stayed in public schools.

Why It Matters: For years, critics have pointed to mixed data on school choice outcomes. However, all the evidence for Wisconsin was quite dated (MPCP) or non-existent (RPCP and WPCP). The evidence shows that the longer students remain enrolled in Wisconsin’s school choice programs, the larger their academic advantage over similar public school peers. The findings suggest policymakers should evaluate school choice as an investment into students rather than expecting immediate results.

The Research: WILL analyzed student-level data from more than 100,000 Wisconsin students over five school years and used established statistical matching techniques to compare school choice students with similar students who remained in public schools. Students were matched based on academic achievement on the first year of the Forward Exam, income, grade level, race or ethnicity, English learner status, and region of the state.

Lower Cost & Better Results: The research also highlights that these academic gains are being achieved while school choice programs operate at far lower costs than traditional public schools. Average public school revenue exceeds voucher funding by more than $5,000 per K-8 student and more than $2,500 per high school student. This new data confirms gains in academic outcomes can come at just a fraction of the cost to taxpayers when students are learning in a school choice environment.

Read More:Report, August 2026Peer-reviewed study: Flanders & Niederjohn (2026), Journal of School Choice