Report on Student Mobility
By Dr. Sammis White, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Center for Urban Initiatives and Research
PAVE's Board of Directors released the fourth annual independent report on its scholarship program in 1996. The most significant finding in this year's research, conducted by Professor Sammis White of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee's Urban Research Center, was that while most PAVE students reside in inner-city neighborhoods with the lowest income concentrations in the city, PAVE's schools have substantially lower rates (6%) of student mobility than do the Milwaukee public schools (30%). A key factor that may contribute to this low mobility is that almost all PAVE elementary schools are neighborhood schools.
In the first three annual reports, research by Dr. Maureen Wahl of Family Service America focused on families who successfully participated in the program, and the results showed high levels of parental satisfaction and involvement. "This year our board wanted to find out about those who left in the middle of the year, or never used the scholarship at all," said John Stollenwerk, President of Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corp. and PAVE Co-chairman. "This is a small percentage of families compared to the whole, but we wanted to know if the problems were related to our program, the schools or something else."
White found that only 5% of students who were granted a scholarship never used it, with the most common reason being that they could not afford the other half of the tuition. This was especially true for families who had planned on participating in the State's school choice program, but were denied a voucher because of a court injunction: they were 5 times more likely to cite financial reasons than other PAVE families. Significantly, 90% of these families said they would reapply in the future if given the opportunity.
A majority of families that used scholarships in 1994-95, but who did not return in 1995-96, indicated that this was a result of personal or financial reasons not because of program complaints or dissatisfaction with the schools. In fact, 88% gave their school an "A" or a "B" when asked to grade the school.
PAVE school principals reported few serious discipline problems, even though they stated that they handle the same children as do the public schools. Several characteristics are commonly found among PAVE schools that contribute to the low levels of discipline problems:
Thorough and early explanation of expected behavior and consequences of misbehavior
Early and heavy involvement of parents
Confronting small problems immediately before they turn into larger ones
The small scale of schools (at least in elementary schools) which allows the principal to be involved early and to know the students and their families in order to generate appropriate interventions in their behavior.
For families who did not use their allocated PAVE scholarship, 55% had at least one other child enrolled in public school, and 20% had at least one child each in public and private schools.
"This widespread use of both public and private school options illustrates how parents choose different school environments for the particular needs of their children," said Dan McKinley, Executive Director of PAVE. "There is no division between public and private schools when you look through the eyes of parents; we have to trust parents to make good decisions," McKinley said. "Unfortunately, most low-income parents are excluded from private or religious school options simply because they cannot afford tuition."
Stollenwerk noted that PAVE's board is very pleased with UW-Milwaukee's research. "Professor White is recognized as a thorough and conscientious researcher in the academic community. He has collected valuable information for all citizens and public policy-makers who are interested in making schools work better for the children of Milwaukee."
PAVE is a non-profit organization that provides half-tuition scholarships to low-income families to enroll their children in the private or parochial school that best meets their needs. PAVE awarded 4,403 scholarships in the1995-96 school year to students attending 106 schools in Milwaukee.