New MSU/Rand study shows charter school students more likely to graduate, attend college
As President Barak Obama proposes to expand the number of the nation’s charter schools, a new report by a MSU researcher looks at how charters affect student outcomes.

The study examines charter schools in Chicago, San Diego, Philadelphia, Denver, Milwaukee, and the states of Ohio, Texas and Florida.  The study is the first to use longitudinal, student-level data to systematically examine these issues across multiple communities and varied charter laws. It finds:

• Little evidence that charter schools are producing, on average, achievement impacts that differ substantially from those of traditional public schools. But the evidence is incomplete, because the performance of charter elementary schools — which constitute a substantial proportion of all charter schools — cannot be easily assessed.
• Lower-than expected results for two specific groups: charter schools in their first year of operation; and, in Ohio, “virtual” charter schools that serve students remotely via technology.
• Charter high schools appear to have substantial positive impacts, increasing the probability of graduating by 7 to 15 percentage points and increasing the probability of enrolling in college by 8 to 10 percentage points.
• Charter schools are generally not “skimming the cream” in recruiting students: Students entering charter schools generally have prior achievement levels that are comparable to those of their peers in traditional public schools.
• Charter schools do not appear to produce effects that substantially help or harm student achievement in nearby traditional public schools

“While the lack of positive effects on test scores may be disappointing to charter advocates, the positive relationships between charter high school attendance and graduating and going on to college in Chicago and Florida are encouraging,” said Ron Zimmer, the report’s lead author. “These results suggest it may be time to include other important measures when evaluating charter schools.”

Read the report, “How Charter Schools Affect Student Outcomes”