What makes charter schools successful

Charter school performance is a mixed bag: some charters outdo their neighborhood district schools, others show no difference, and some do worse. A new Mathematica meta-analysis attempts to identify the characteristics common to each of these groups. What, in other words, makes a high-performing charter schools so effective? As author Phillip Gleason notes, it is difficult to carry out studies of this nature. Much of the data are based on observation, so determining causation is essentially impossible.

Observation also takes time and costs money, which usually necessitates small sample sizes. To mitigate these impediments, Gleason compiled seven studies that used different methods—including observational study, survey administration, and lottery-based designs comparing students who won a spot via charter lotteries to those who did not —to study charters schools around the country.

The sample sizes in each of these studies range from twenty-nine to seventy-six schools. To my eye, however, all of this is seems rather intuitive. While the opportunity to innovate is enticing, providing "high support" often means a longer school day and greater preparation. The best charters, as the research suggests, employ teachers who believe in continuous improvement not only for their students but for themselves as well.

Other reports underscore the idea that teachers must be comfortable with frequent evaluations by administrators and peers—unlike my first school, where classroom observations were so rare that as the principal, when I walked into a classroom, everything stopped and the teacher asked if I "needed something.

Also, generally speaking, charter schools often can't compete with traditional schools in terms of salary and benefits. Still, many find that the freedom and opportunity to innovate at charter schools provide a different kind of reward. Significant resistance to charters still exists.

Charters take money from traditional public schools and appear to have less accountability. They accept few children in special education and raise concerns about a two-tiered education system.

And it's notable that, despite the positive results of some Massachusetts charters, a state referendum to increase the number of charters was soundly defeated last November. Still, we cannot ignore the fact that many big-city public schools don't always provide the education children deserve. Charter schools may be the answer for some students or teachers, but as they currently exist, they're certainly not for everyone. Their successes, however, are worth studying to find the solution for the challenges public schools face.

Her work has appeared in many publications including Education Week, and her blog, Practical Leadership, was featured on the Scholastic website. Share Twitter LinkedIn Email. Also in this issue:. Leverage, Business Cycles, and Crises. Optimal Expectations and Limited Medical Testing. Alan J. Auerbach, the Robert D. The credible estimation of causal effects is a central task of applied econometrics.

Two tools for this purpose that