Direct and indirect impact of charter schools’ entry on traditional public schools: New evidence from North Carolina

2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Jinnai
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste K. Carruthers

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.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bifulco ◽  
Helen F. Ladd

Using an individual panel data set to control for student fixed effects, we estimate the impact of charter schools on students in charter schools and in nearby traditional public schools. We find that students make considerably smaller achievement gains in charter schools than they would have in public schools. The large negative estimates of the effects of attending a charter school are neither substantially biased, nor substantially offset, by positive impacts of charter schools on traditional public schools. Finally, we find suggestive evidence that about 30 percent of the negative effect of charter schools is attributable to high rates of student turnover.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 536-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen F. Ladd ◽  
Charles T. Clotfelter ◽  
John B. Holbein

A defining characteristic of charter schools is that they introduce a strong market element into public education. In this paper, we examine through the lens of a market model the evolution of the charter school sector in North Carolina between 1999 and 2012. We examine trends in the mix of students enrolled in charter schools, the racial imbalance of charter schools, patterns in student match quality by schools’ racial composition, and the distributions of test score performance gains compared to those in traditional public schools. In addition, we use student fixed effects models to examine plausibly causal measures of charter school effectiveness. Our findings indicate that charter schools in North Carolina are increasingly serving the interests of relatively able white students in racially imbalanced schools and that despite improvements in the charter school sector over time, charter schools are still no more effective on average than traditional public schools.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. LaFleur

This project contributes to the body of research examining the implications of the geographic location of charter schools for student access, especially in high-poverty communities. Using geographic information systems (GIS) software, this paper uses data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey to identify the socioeconomic characteristics of the census tracts in which Chicago’s charter schools tend to locate. Echoing the findings of other researchers who have examined charter school locational patterns, the present analyses found evidence of a “ceiling effect” by which many charter schools appear to locate in Chicago’s higher-needs census tracts, broadly cast, but avoid locating directly within those that are highest-need. The findings suggest that because Chicago’s charter schools face per-pupil expenditures that are often up to 20% less than those of traditional public schools, they may strategically leverage location to help shape student enrollment. By frequently locating near, but not directly within highest-need communities, charter schools may find it easier to attract a quorum of relatively higher achieving students who are less expensive to educate, therefore increasing their chances of meeting academic benchmarks and retaining their charters. By extending the findings of other researchers to the context of Chicago—where charters represent an ever-increasing share of the public school market—the present analyses may inform future revisions to the policies governing the authorization of charter schools in Chicago, with the goal of increasing access for highest-need students. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Mark Berends ◽  
Kristi Donaldson

Background Although we have learned a good deal from lottery-based and quasi-experimental studies of charter schools, much of what goes on inside of charter schools remains a “black box” to be unpacked. Grounding our work in neoclassical market theory and institutional theory, we examine differences in the social organization of schools and classrooms to enrich our understanding of school choice, school organizational and instructional conditions, and student learning. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Our study examines differences in students’ mathematics achievement gains between charter and traditional public schools, focusing on the distribution and organization of students into ability groups. In short, we ask: (1) How does the distribution of ability grouping differ between charter and traditional public schools? And (2) What are the relationships between ability group placement and students’ mathematics achievement gains in charter and traditional public schools? Research Design With a matched sample of charter and traditional public schools in six states (Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio), we use regression analyses to estimate the relationship between student achievement gains and school sector. We analyze how ability grouping mediates this main effect, controlling for various student, classroom, and school characteristics. Findings We find significant differences in the distribution of students across ability groups, with a more even distribution in charter compared to traditional public schools, which appear to have more selective placements for high groups. Consistent with prior research on tracking, we also find low-grouped students to be at a significant disadvantage when compared with high- and mixed-group peers in both sectors. Conclusions Although we find some significant differences between ability group placement and student achievement gains in mathematics, these relationships do not differ as much by sector as market theory (with its emphasis on innovation and autonomy) would predict. Consistent with institutional theory, both sectors still group students by ability and have similar relationships between gains and grouping.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Marytza A. Gawlik

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-38
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Starr

At the policy level, it’s important to keep debating the pros and cons of charter schools, when and where to permit them, and how best to govern them. But where those schools do exist, argues PDK’s CEO, system leaders can’t afford to take sides. Much more pressing is the need to coordinate among charters and traditional public schools and ensure that they work well for all children.


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