Low-income charter students outperform peers
A federally funded study of charter middle schools has come up with the same finding as a larger-scale charter study by, CREDO, a Stanford research institute, a year ago: Charter schools on average produce no better results than other public schools.
But it’s the sub-headline of the charter study by Mathematica Policy Research of Princeton, N.J., that’s most relevant for federal education policy: Low-income middle schoolers in urban areas outperformed their peers in nearby district schools significantly in math, less so in reading. At the same time, higher income middle school students did significantly worse in both reading and math in charter schools than in district schools.
The study covered students in 36 charter schools that were popular enough to require a random lottery for student admission. Mathematica compared the test results of students who were admitted with those who lost out and therefore attended district schools. This is a desired methodology for it compared similar students and minimized parental motivation as a variable. The middle schools were in 15 unnamed states.
The study found that charter schools overall did not affect other school outcomes, including absences, suspensions, student behavior and attitudes, and parental involvement. The one area in which charters outshined district schools was in
But it’s the sub-headline of the charter study by Mathematica Policy Research of Princeton, N.J., that’s most relevant for federal education policy: Low-income middle schoolers in urban areas outperformed their peers in nearby district schools significantly in math, less so in reading. At the same time, higher income middle school students did significantly worse in both reading and math in charter schools than in district schools.
The study covered students in 36 charter schools that were popular enough to require a random lottery for student admission. Mathematica compared the test results of students who were admitted with those who lost out and therefore attended district schools. This is a desired methodology for it compared similar students and minimized parental motivation as a variable. The middle schools were in 15 unnamed states.
The study found that charter schools overall did not affect other school outcomes, including absences, suspensions, student behavior and attitudes, and parental involvement. The one area in which charters outshined district schools was in