scholarly journals Bringing the Full Picture into Focus: A Consideration of the Internal and External Validity of Charter School Effects

2021 ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
Douglas Lee Lauen ◽  
Kyle Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Institutional Arrangement ◽  
School Effects ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Full Picture

AbstractThe authors of this chapter describe an institutional arrangement for education in the United States: the provision of education through “charter schools,” an experiment in liberalization and decentralization begun in the early 1990s. They address whether charter schools raise student achievement on average compared to students in traditional public schools. They report that the authors of small-scale randomized studies report quite positive effects, but that as the sample of schools increases, the reported effects decline in size and significance, from which they conclude that while charter schools do not generally harm student achievement, they do not have significantly positive effects for the average student. They do, however, more positively affect poor and minority students and students in some urban centers. This underlines the importance of examining school effects across different geographies and social groups and the key role external validity plays in drawing policy implications from educational research.

Do charter schools alleviate the negative effect of teacher turnover?

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlerik Naslund ◽  
Branco Ponomariov
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Teacher Turnover ◽  
Public School Districts ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Labor Practices ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Using Data

Using data on charter and public school districts in Texas, we test the hypothesis that the labor practices in charter schools, in particular their ability to easily dismiss poorly performing teachers, diminishes the negative effect of teacher turnover on student achievement and graduation rates in comparison to public schools. We find some support for this hypothesis, and discuss implications for theory and practice.

scholarly journals Principalship Socialization in Charter Schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Marytza A. Gawlik
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Analytic Framework ◽  
Stepping Stone ◽  
School Year ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
Building Level

This study explores the ways in which charter schools manage principalship socialization of individuals as they move into principalship roles. The topic is important in the context of increasing concerns about the need for quality educational principalship and the pressure charter schools face to demonstrate higher levels of student achievement than traditional public schools. Data were collected from three charter elementary schools in Florida during the 2012–2013 school year. The results reveal variation among the schools with respect to preparation for principalship transitions and subsequent socialization. This study provides a conceptual/analytic framework that can serve as a foundation for future research, which should (1) highlight the practices associated with using socialization as a stepping stone to building-level principalship and (2) compare network-based and stand-alone charter schools with respect to principalship development.

Virtual Illusion: Comparing Student Achievement and Teacher and Classroom Characteristics in Online and Brick-and-Mortar Charter Schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Mark Berends ◽  
Joseph J. Ferrare ◽  
R. Joseph Waddington
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Significant Heterogeneity ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Classroom Characteristics ◽  
Brick And Mortar ◽  
Virtual Charter Schools

As researchers continue to examine the growing number of charter schools in the United States, they have focused attention on the significant heterogeneity of charter effects on student achievement. Our article contributes to this agenda by examining the achievement effects of virtual charter schools vis-à-vis brick-and-mortar charters and traditional public schools and whether characteristics of teachers and classrooms explain the observed impacts. We found that students who switched to virtual charter schools experienced large, negative effects on mathematics and English/language arts achievement that persisted over time and that these effects could not be explained by observed teacher or classroom characteristics.

scholarly journals Teacher Turnover, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement in DCPS

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Adnot ◽  
Thomas Dee ◽  
Veronica Katz ◽  
James Wyckoff
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Teacher Turnover ◽  
School Quality ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Policy Regime ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Quasi Experimental

In practice, teacher turnover appears to have negative effects on school quality as measured by student performance. However, some simulations suggest that turnover can instead have large positive effects under a policy regime in which low-performing teachers can be accurately identified and replaced with more effective teachers. This study examines this question by evaluating the effects of teacher turnover on student achievement under IMPACT, the unique performance-assessment and incentive system in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). Employing a quasi-experimental design based on data from the first years of IMPACT, we find that, on average, DCPS replaced teachers who left with teachers who increased student achievement by 0.08 standard deviation ( SD) in math. When we isolate the effects of lower-performing teachers who were induced to leave DCPS for poor performance, we find that student achievement improves by larger and statistically significant amounts (i.e., 0.14 SD in reading and 0.21 SD in math). In contrast, the effect of exits by teachers not sanctioned under IMPACT is typically negative but not statistically significant.

scholarly journals The Qualifications and Classroom Performance of Teachers Moving to Charter Schools

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste K. Carruthers
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Classroom Performance ◽  
Low Performing Schools ◽  
Traditional Public Schools

Do charter schools draw good teachers from traditional, mainstream public schools? Using a thirteen-year panel of North Carolina public schoolteachers, I find that less qualified and less effective teachers move to charter schools, particularly if they move to urban schools, low-performing schools, or schools with higher shares of nonwhite students. It is unclear whether these findings reflect lower demand for teachers’ credentials and value added or resource constraints unique to charter schools, but the inability to recruit teachers who are at least as effective as those in traditional public schools will likely hinder charter student achievement.

Family Background and School Effects on Student Achievement: A Multilevel Analysis of the Coleman Data

2011 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros Konstantopoulos ◽  
Geoffrey D. Borman
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Research Question ◽  
School Effects ◽  
School Characteristics ◽  
Predominantly White Schools ◽  
Predominantly Minority

Background/Context A main objective of the Equality of Educational Opportunity Survey (EEOS), conducted in 1965, was to document the lack of availability of equal educational opportunities for minority students in public schools. Another equally important objective was to reveal specific inequalities in facilities and resources available to students in predominantly minority or predominantly White schools. Coleman et al. (1966) analyzed the EEOS data and found surprisingly few differences between the characteristics of schools attended by minority and White students. As a result, Coleman et al. concluded that school characteristics are not strongly related to student achievement in the presence of family background and that family inputs are much more valuable predictors of student achievement than school inputs are. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The present study revisited this issue about the importance of schools in promoting student achievement and reanalyzed the EEOS 12th grade data using multilevel models. Our sample included 12th graders in public schools in the U.S. in 1965. We sought to determine the predictive efficacy of school characteristics on student achievement net of the effects of family background. The overarching question motivating this research is: Would Coleman and his colleagues have reached the same conclusions had they had available today's multilevel modeling statistical methods that are more appropriate for determining school effects? Research Design We used both regression and multilevel models to gauge school effects and compared our findings to those reported by Coleman et al. Our estimates infer strictly correlational, not causal, associations between school characteristics and achievement. Conclusions/Recommendations We found considerable and significant between-school variance in achievement, which suggests school effects. Similarly, the observed school characteristics used in our models explained a substantial proportion of the between-school variation in achievement. Our results also indicated that schools play meaningful roles in distributing equality or inequality of educational outcomes to females, minorities, and the disadvantaged. These results are in congruence with recent studies that examined school effects from the 1970s to the 1990s using U.S. national probability samples of students (Konstantopoulos, 2006; Konstantopoulos & Hedges, 2008).

Profiting from Public Education: Education Management Organizations and Student Achievement

2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (5) ◽  
pp. 1352-1379
Author(s):  
David R. Garcia ◽  
Rebecca Barber ◽  
Alex Molnar
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Test Data ◽  
Basic Skills ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Education Management ◽  
Complex Thinking ◽  
Positive Effect

Background/Context Nationally, almost a quarter of charter school students attend a school managed by a for-profit education management organization (EMO). EMOs have full executive authority over the operation and management of schools, including curriculum and instruction decisions. Because charter schools are funded with public dollars, critics argue that the profit motive may divert funds away from academics and have a negative impact on student achievement. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study compares the academic achievement of EMO-managed charter schools with other charter schools and traditional public schools in Arizona. Whereas prior EMO research has focused on total scores in mathematics and reading as the academic achievement variables, this study delves further by analyzing subtest scores that distinguish between basic and complex thinking skills. We use more sensitive test data in an effort to examine the differential impact of the educational practices of EMO-managed charter schools on academic achievement. Research Design Student-level longitudinal test data are used for Arizona students who were enrolled in Grades 2–6 in 2001 and who remained in the same sector (EMO, non-EMO charter, or traditional public school) for the next 3 years. The test data include total scores for reading and mathematics, as well as subtest scores divided into basic and complex thinking skills. The analyses are based on a model that estimates the level of academic achievement in Year 3 using the sector of attendance as predictors and a twice-lagged achievement variable along with the other student-level covariates. Findings/Results For students who remained in the same sector for 3 consecutive years, attendance in non-EMO-managed charter schools had a positive effect on achievement results in total mathematics. The outcome was driven by higher scores in mathematics procedures, the basic skills subtest. For students who remained in the same sector and same school for 3 consecutive years, EMO-managed charter schools exhibited a positive effect in reading vocabulary, a basic skills subtest, and a negative effect in reading comprehension, the complex thinking subtest. Conclusions/Recommendations Previous research has illuminated many common teaching and learning characteristics of EMO-managed charter schools, such as drill and practice and standardized curricula that can be delivered by less experienced teaching staffs. Our results are the first empirical indication that the academic environments of EMO-managed charter schools may be associated with higher levels of academic achievement in basic skills at the expense of achievement in complex thinking skills, at least in reading. In all, the results are modest, but they deepen the available evidence about the academic impact of EMO-managed charter schools.

scholarly journals Do Teacher Assistants Improve Student Outcomes? Evidence From School Funding Cutbacks in North Carolina

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven W. Hemelt ◽  
Helen F. Ladd ◽  
Calen R. Clifton
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
School Funding ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
School Students ◽  
Teacher Assistants ◽  
Positive Effects

This article examines the influence of teacher assistants and other personnel on outcomes for elementary school students during a period of recession-induced cutbacks in teacher assistants. Using panel data from North Carolina, we exploit the state’s unique system of financing its local public schools to identify the causal effects of teacher assistants, controlling for other staff, on measures of student achievement. We find consistent evidence of positive effects of teacher assistants, an understudied staffing category, on student performance in reading and math. We also find larger positive effects of teacher assistants on achievement outcomes for students of color and students in high-poverty schools than for White students and students in more affluent schools. We conclude that teacher assistants are a cost-effective means of raising student achievement, especially in reading.

scholarly journals Charter Schools and Student Achievement in Florida

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim R. Sass
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Public School ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
School Quality ◽  
School Students ◽  
Public School Students ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
Traditional Public School

I utilize longitudinal data covering all public school students in Florida to study the performance of charter schools and their competitive impact on traditional public schools. Controlling for student-level fixed effects, I find achievement initially is lower in charters. However, by their fifth year of operation new charter schools reach a par with the average traditional public school in math and produce higher reading achievement scores than their traditional public school counterparts. Among charters, those targeting at-risk and special education students demonstrate lower student achievement, while charter schools managed by for-profit entities peform no differently on average than charters run by nonprofits. Controlling for preexisting traditional public school quality, competition from charter schools is associated with modest increases in math scores and unchanged reading scores in nearby traditional public schools.

From the Delta Banks to the Upper Ranks

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb P. Rose ◽  
Robert Maranto ◽  
Gary W. Ritter
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Student Attrition ◽  
Rural Students ◽  
National Reputation ◽  
Kipp Schools

Knowledge is Power Program Delta College Preparatory School (KIPP DCPS), an open-enrollment charter school,1 opened in 2002 in Helena, Arkansas. KIPP DCPS students have consistently outperformed their peers from neighboring districts on year-end student achievement scores, and KIPP’s national reputation led Arkansas lawmakers to exempt KIPP from the state’s charter school cap. Yet, skeptics of KIPP in particular, and charter schools in general, voiced a concern that the apparent KIPP advantage in student achievement may have been due to the prior academic ability of the students who selected into KIPP rather than to the KIPP school itself. Furthermore, some KIPP critics have argued that student attrition at KIPP schools accounts for the apparent KIPP advantage. Until now, no prior study has rigorously compared performance of KIPP students with traditional public school peers on matched observable academic and demographic variables or carefully considered student attrition rates at KIPP DCPS. Here, we begin by summarizing prior evaluations of KIPP schools nationally. Next, we carefully examine student attrition from 2005 through 2011, and we find that KIPP DCPS attrition resembles that found in nearby traditional public schools. Finally, using regression models that control demographic and prior academic indicators, we find that KIPP DCPS students gain significantly more each year on standardized assessments than do their matched peers. These results are important as nearly all prior empirical work on KIPP schools has been conducted in urban settings. Despite the fact that many rural students struggle academically or attend struggling schools, we know relatively little about the potential benefits of No Excuses charter schools in rural areas, such as KIPP DCPS.

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