Do Charter Schools Improve Student Achievement? Evidence from a National Randomized Study. Working Paper

This paper presents findings from the first national randomized study of the impacts of charter schools on student achievement, which included 36 charter middle schools across 15 states. The paper compares students who applied and were admitted to these schools through randomized admissions lotterie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMathematica Policy Research, Inc
Main Authors Clark, Melissa A, Gleason, Philip, Tuttle, Christina Clark, Silverberg, Marsha K
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published Mathematica Policy Research, Inc 01.12.2011
Subjects
Academic Achievement
Achievement Gains
Admission Criteria
Attendance
Charter Schools
Comparative Analysis
Comparative Testing
Control Groups
Educational Improvement
Evidence
Experimental Groups
Institutional Characteristics
Middle School Students
Performance Factors
Program Effectiveness
Scores
Standardized Tests
Student Improvement
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Summary:This paper presents findings from the first national randomized study of the impacts of charter schools on student achievement, which included 36 charter middle schools across 15 states. The paper compares students who applied and were admitted to these schools through randomized admissions lotteries with students who applied and were not admitted. It finds that, on average, charter middle schools in the study were neither more nor less successful than traditional public schools in improving student achievement. However, impacts varied significantly across schools and students, with positive impacts for more disadvantaged schools and students and negative impacts for the more advantaged. Appended are: (1) Baseline Characteristics of Treatment and Control Group Students in Full Sample; (2) Baseline Characteristics of Treatment and Control Group Students Included in Analysis of Year 2 Test Score Data; (3) Covariates Included in Impact Analysis Models; and (4) Impacts on State Proficiency Levels. (Contains 13 tables, 1 figure and 28 footnotes.)