I'm a husband, parent, & fan of Vikings, Twins, Wolves & Hogs. I study school choice programs & other ed reforms in my spare time. All posts are my own.

Fayetteville, AR
In honor of New Years, I'm counting down my 12 scholarly products released in the past 2 years, usually w/ help from colleagues & students, oldest to newest. 1st up is our finding that more education freedom is correlated with higher NAEP score gains. dx.doi.org/10.1080/15582159.…
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REPORT ALERT: "Arkansas recorded its highest-ever homeschool enrollment in 2025-2026." @AngelaRWatson @OppArkansas Homeschooling Enrollment Growth Persists, but at a Reduced Pace informedchoice1996.substack.…
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WPS!!!!!
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Patrick Wolf retweeted
Look at all the public and charter schools participating in the state's ESA program. app.schoolchoicear.org/?st=%…
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Patrick Wolf retweeted
EdChoice researcher Alex Wolf read through all 51 pages of the newly released temporary rules for the Federal Tax Credit for Scholarships so you don't have to! His new blog highlights some of the most important stipulations. edchoice.org/2026-the-federa…
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Patrick Wolf retweeted
What if increasing access to tutoring were as simple as making registration easier? In a randomized experiment, we find that simplifying enrollment and encouraging families increased literacy tutoring take-up by 11 percentage points --> a 37% increase Sometimes better program design matters as much as funding with @mistygallo2 @FlowTap1 docs.iza.org/dp19002.pdf
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For all my friends in Central Arkansas, KATV channel 7 (ABC) will run a story on my team's EFA program report during their 5 pm news show. Check it out!
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A cool article by @hamlind1 about Oklahoma's unconventional path to universal #SchoolChoice. "Oklahoma’s case...demonstrates how the political compromises needed to pass universal private school choice legislation produced a historic increase in recurring funding for public schools despite claims that the program would have the opposite effect." tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
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STUDY ALERT: For the 4th consecutive workday, members (or former members) of my research team released a new #SchoolChoice study. Today's offering is an engaging, informative political study of the development & passage of Arkansas's LEARNS Act, focusing on the universal Education Freedom Accounts Program, authored by my former @ua_edreform student & faculty colleague, @AlbertxCheng. @hpatrinos @jbmcgee @MichaelTHartney @edchoice @afcpress tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
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Patrick Wolf retweeted
New @ua_edreform paper: Can simpler registration increase participation in literacy tutoring? In a randomized experiment in Arkansas, we find that encouragement and simplified enrollment increased take up by 10.9 percentage points. With @mistygallo2 @FlowTap1
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STUDY ALERT: For the 3rd consecutive workday, my research team is releasing a new ed policy report. That's sorta like releasing the 1st 3 Star Wars movies on consecutive days. Sorta. This report shows how to boost participation in the Arkansas Literacy Tutoring Grant program through low-cost encouragement strategies. Results are experimental, ergo causal. @mistygallo2 @hpatrinos @MichaelPetrilli @rickhess99 edre.uark.edu/_resources/pdf…
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We'll take it! Grip it and rip it, Kyler! Skol!
The NFL’s only two 5-0 teams
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Please read this interesting, insightful, & short essay on #SchoolChoice: "Education is not merely about raising test scores. It is about helping individuals develop the capabilities needed to lead productive and independent lives. If a policy increases graduation rates, broadens opportunities, and strengthens individual agency, those outcomes deserve serious consideration even when they are not fully captured by conventional assessments." @IanVRowe @flowidealism @AlbertxCheng @hpatrinos ipades.org/vouchers-educatio…
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Hey! Share the road!
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For my friends in Northwest Arkansas who don't go to bed before 10 pm, @5NEWS (KFSM-TV) will broadcast a story about our Arkansas #SchoolChoice report tonight! @mistygallo2 @jbmcgee
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Excellent summary of our findings courtesy of @JRobertsonAR!
🚨 NEW: The University of Arkansas and the Arkansas Department of Education just released their latest report on Education Freedom Accounts, using data from the 2025–26 school year. The takeaway: Arkansas’s EFA program is wildly successful. Parents love it, and kids are thriving. A few highlights: 📈 44,524 Arkansas students used an EFA last year, the first year every K–12 student was eligible. The program is on track to serve more than 50,000 kids this year. ‼️ 95.8% ‼️ of EFA families stuck with the program from one year to the next. It's hard to overstate how important this figure is. Parents are extremely happy with this program. ♿ 16.3% of students in the EFA program have a disability. That’s a higher share than in Arkansas public schools (15.2%). So much for the talking point that “EFAs leave kids with disabilities behind.” 📝 EFA students are required to take a standardized test, and their results were stellar. EFA students beat the national average across the board, scoring at the 62nd percentile in math and the 66th percentile in reading. 🏠 Homeschoolers did even better: 71st percentile in math, 76th percentile in reading. 🗺️ EFA schools operate in 55 of Arkansas’s 75 counties, and nearly 70% of the state sits within 15 miles of a city with a participating school. Education freedom is serving students all across the state, including in very rural areas. 💰 EFA funding was about 8.1% of total state education funding, while serving 8.7% of students. This program is a bargain for taxpayers. 💵 Students switching from public schools to EFAs will save around $60 million in public school funding. And that number would be closer to $90 million, except the state pays public schools extra “declining enrollment” money when students leave. ✅ Every dollar went to approved educational expenses. Zero fraud. This is easily the most accountable government program in state history. 😊 Parents are happy. 87% said the application was easy. 90% said the eligibility rules were clear. And 95.8% came back for another year. Top 3 reasons parents chose an EFA: 1️⃣ Better academics (81%) 2️⃣ Religious instruction (49%) 3️⃣ A safer school (44%) The bottom line: EFAs are working. Parents love education freedom. Students are thriving. Taxpayers are getting a bargain. Arkansas got this right. Now let’s keep it going! 🇺🇸 And thanks to @ua_edreform, @mistygallo2, @jbmcgee, @FlowTap1 for your diligent work on this important report!
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