Editorial Review Process

Every state profile and editorial piece on The School Choice Index goes through a structured four-stage review before publication: research, drafting, fact-check, and policy-advisor review. The same process applies to revisions of existing pages when laws or rules change.

Stage 1 — Research

The assigned editor pulls the enacted bill, the codified statute, the most recent administrative rule, and the administrator’s current guidance. They build a one-page brief identifying eligibility, award amount, allowable uses, application window, administrator, and any material recent changes. The brief includes a citation for every figure.

Stage 2 — Drafting

The editor drafts the page in plain English, structuring eligibility, allowable uses, and the application calendar as the primary information. The first draft is written without reference to advocacy materials; those are added only after a neutral baseline exists.

Stage 3 — Fact-check

A second editor independently re-verifies every numeric claim, every named institution, and every legal citation against the primary source. Where the primary source is silent or ambiguous, the page narrative reflects the ambiguity rather than resolving it editorially.

Stage 4 — Policy-advisor review

For pages covering newly enacted programs or material policy shifts, the draft is reviewed by an education policy advisor with subject-matter expertise in the program type. Advisor comments are addressed before publication. Advisors do not have editorial veto and do not approve final wording; they flag factual or framing concerns.

Re-verification

Each state page is re-verified on a rolling cadence, prioritized by legislative session timing and application-window calendars. Award amounts and eligibility rules are re-checked at the start of every application cycle. Page footers display the last-reviewed date.

Versioning

Substantive changes that alter the editorial meaning of a page are flagged at the top of the page. Routine updates (re-verification, link refresh, typo) are tracked internally but not flagged inline.