Download or read book Family Reflections on the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program written by Thomas Stewart and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the spring of 2004, the first federally funded voucher program--the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP)--was established. The School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) recognized that publicly-funded school vouchers represent a relatively new and unstudied approach to school choice and education reform. To address this need, the SCDP requested and received funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to capture the "Parent and Student Voices on the OSP." A total of 110 families, representing 180 students, that applied during the first two years of the Program volunteered to participate in this study. As the last installment in a four-part annual series that began in 2005, this report summarizes key findings from the previous reports and provides a general overview of the respondents' "reflections" upon their three or four years in the Program. Using a phenomenological approach, which includes focus groups, personal interviews and keypad polling information gathering techniques, participants were given multiple opportunities to share or describe their experiences. A consumer framework was often used to contextualize the families' experiences. Their insights continue to shape the scope and direction of the OSP, and they will help inform other efforts to provide low income families with access to quality school options. Appended are: (1) Calendar and Composition of Focus Group Sessions, 2004-2008; (2) 2004 Fall Parent Focus Group Moderator's Guide; (3) 2005 Parent Personal Interview Moderator's Guide; and (4) 2008 Focus Group and Polling Questions. (Contains 26 exhibits.).