Charter School Study Results
An Op-Ed article published by The New York Times on May 4, 2010 was titled “Why Charter Schools Fail the Test.” Charles Murray, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, reviewed an evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program conducted by The University of Arkansas’ education research center. This non-partisan, rigorous study looked at the effects of school choice policy. Murray concluded,” The latest evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the oldest and most extensive system of vouchers and charter schools in America, came out last month, and most advocates of school choice were disheartened by the results.” Over 3,000 students enrolled in the choice program were matched with students from traditional public schools. He noted that they had “achievement growth rates that are comparable to similar Milwaukee public-school students.” He further concluded, “This is just one of several evaluations of school choice programs that have failed to show major improvements in test scores, but the size and age of the Milwaukee program, combined with the rigor of the study, make these results hard to explain away.”
Another study conducted at Stanford University and published in June 2009 showed that 37 percent of charter school students had significantly worse results on math tests, 17 percent achieved higher scores, and the remaining 46 percent of charter school students were about even. This research was carried out in 2,403 charter schools in 15 states as well as the District of Columbia. It reinforces other evidence that charter school performance is sometimes equal to, and sometimes lower than, the performance of traditional public schools. Additionally, the record for charter schools that operate with a profit motive is no better than for non-profit charter schools.
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Charter School Accountability
Cyber Charter Schools and the Need for Research
For Profit Charter Schools
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