Despite consistent financial shortcomings and hefty reliance on inexperienced teachers, charter school students often do better academically than their public counterparts, a national study has found.
In comparing charter schools with public schools, the authors of the study said charter schools tend to serve a disproportionate number of poor, struggling students at risk of dropping out. The authors said, therefore, that it might not be fair to expect charter schools to perform as well on standardized tests as all public schools.
But when measured against public schools with similar demographic and geographic characteristics, charter schools produced slightly higher gains in math and reading over a one-year period, according to the study, which was conducted by the Manhattan Institute, a national policy research organization.
For students with test scores that fall in the middle of the pack, for example, going to a charter school appeared to add 2 percentile points in reading and 3 percentile points in math on standardized tests. These gains were relatively modest, the study found, but were large enough to challenge accusations that charter schools suffer academically because they tend to employ so many teachers without credentials.
"Why do they make greater gains?" said Jay Greene, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. "Charter schools enjoy greater freedom from regulation, and that may give them greater flexibility to meet the needs of their students."
The study, released Wednesday, evaluated test scores from 2000 to last year.
About 700,000 students attend almost 2,700 charter schools across the nation, and the institute's study focused on about 600 in 11 states. Although they are financed with public money, charter schools typically have more autonomy over their teachers, curriculums, resources and educational philosophies than public schools do.
As a result, Greene said, charter schools typically spend less time meeting the demands of state and federal bureaucracies and devote more energy to classwork. They are also voluntary. That means that parents of students at charter schools may be taking a more active role in their children's education, another factor that may help explain their apparent success, the authors said.
