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NEPC’s Review Project and Utah’s Voucher Litigation

The NEPC Review Project commissions independent scholars to evaluate influential education policy reports that have not undergone formal academic peer review, assessing the quality of their assumptions, methods, findings, and policy recommendations. The project’s value was recently illustrated in a case before the Utah Supreme Court challenging the state’s Education Savings Account voucher program. An amicus brief supporting the program claimed that school choice programs improve student outcomes and public schools, citing 12 non–peer-reviewed sources, many from advocacy organizations. Six of the cited think-tank reports had previously been reviewed by NEPC, whose reviewers identified significant methodological flaws or conclusions that did not support the brief’s claims, highlighting the importance of independent review in evaluating policy evidence.