The Effect of Charter Schools on Districts’ Student Composition, Costs, and Efficiency: The Case of New York State

Charter schools can influence a school district's costs by reducing economies of scale and by changing the share of high cost students a district serves, but might also increase the district's efficiency through competition. Utilizing data for New York State school districts from 1998/99 to 2013/14, we estimate difference-in-differences models to assess the effect of charter schools on enrollment and student composition. Then, we estimate an expenditure function, using data prior to the charter school program, to measure the costs associated with reaching a given performance standard for students in various need categories and different enrollments. Next, using the entire data set, we run a second expenditure function to determine changes in efficiency associated with charter school entry. We find that charter schools increase the cost of providing education, and that these cost increases are larger than short-run efficiency gains, but are offset by efficiency gains in the long term

Public School Choice And Integration: Evidence from Durham, North Carolina

Using evidence from Durham, North Carolina, we examine the impact of school choice programs on racial and class-based segregation across schools. Theoretical considerations suggest that how choice programs affect segregation will depend not only on the family preferences emphasized in the sociology literature but also on the linkages between student composition, school quality and student achievement emphasized in the economics literature. Reasonable assumptions about the distribution of preferences over race, class, and school characteristics suggest that the segregating choices of students from advantaged backgrounds are likely to outweigh any integrating choices by disadvantaged students. The results of our empirical analysis are consistent with these theoretical considerations. Using information on the actual schools students attend and on the schools in their assigned attendance zones, we find that schools in Durham are more segregated by race and class as a result of school choice programs than they would be if all students attended their geographically assigned schools. In addition, we find that the effects of choice on segregation by class are larger than the effects on segregation by race

Review of Connecticut's Charter School Law and Race to the Top

Bifulco's review of this report finds that it ignores relevant research and offers no evidence to support its claim that expanding charters would increase low-income student achievement

Can Propensity Score Analysis Relplicate estimates based on random evaluations of school choice? a within-study comparison

The ability of propensity score analysis (PSA) to match impact estimates derived from random assignment (RA) is examined using data from the evaluation of two interdistrict magnet schools. As in previous within study comparisons, the estimates provided by PSA and RA differ substantially when PSA is implemented using comparison groups that are not similar to the treatment group and without pretreatment measures of academic performance. Adding pretreatment measures of the performance to the PSA, however, substantially improves the match between PSA and RA estimates. Although the results should not be generalized too readily, they suggest that nonexperimental estimators can, in some circumstances, provide valid estimates of the causal impact of school choice programs

Relações Intergrupais em Escolas Integradas: Um breve olhar sobre as escolas Magnet

The frequency and quality of intergroup contact within racially and ethnically diverse schools has potentially important implications for the achievement of desegregation goals. The analyses presented here use survey data to assess intergroup contact within a sample of ten interdistrict magnet schools in Connecticut. Findings indicate frequent intergroup interactions within interdistrict magnet schools, but also that the perceived quality of intergroup relations differs across racial groups and both the frequency and quality of intergroup contact varies considerably across schools. Students who report higher quality intergroup relations in their school also tend to report more positive academic environments and more positive attitudes towards other groups. Together these findings indicate that attention must be paid to intergroup relations within diverse schools if the goals of integrated schooling are to be realized.La frecuencia y la calidad del contacto entre grupos en las escuelas con diversidad racial y étnica tienen implicaciones potencialmente importantes para lograr los objetivos de la integración. Los análisis presentados aquí utilizan datos de encuestas para evaluar el contacto intergrupal con un grupo de diez escuelas magnet interdistritales en Connecticut. Los resultados indican que las interacciones entre grupos son comunes dentro de las escuelas magnet entre distritos, y también que la calidad de las relaciones intergrupales entre los grupos raciales difiere y que tanto la frecuencia y la calidad de contacto intergrupal, varían considerablemente entre las escuelas. Los estudiantes que señalan una mayor calidad de las relaciones intergrupales en las escuelas también suelen señalar ambientes académicos más positivos y mejores actitudes positivas hacia otros grupos. En conjunto, estos resultados indican que se debe prestar atención a las relaciones intergrupales en las escuelas con diversidad racial y étnica si se tiene la intención de llevar a cabo los objetivos del sistema educativo integrado.A frequência e a qualidade do contato intergrupal em escolas com diversidade racial e étnica têm implicações potencialmente importantes na concretização dos objetivos de integração. As análises aqui apresentadas usam dados de pesquisa para avaliar o contato intergrupal numa amostra de dez escolas Magnet Interdistritais em Connecticut. Os resultados indicam que as interações intergrupais são frequentes dentro das escolas Magnet Interdistritais, mas também que a qualidade das relações intergrupais difere entre os grupos raciais e que ambas, a frequência e a qualidade do contacto intergrupal, variam consideravelmente entre escolas. Os estudantes que enunciam uma qualidade mais elevada das relações intergrupais nas suas escolas também tendem a enunciar mais ambientes académicos positivos e mais atitudes positivas em relação a outros grupos. Em conjunto, estes resultados indicam que se deve prestar atenção às relações intergrupais nas escolas com diversidade racial e étnica caso se pretendam realizar os objetivos da escolarização integrad

Does Whole-School Reform Boost Student Performance? The Case of New York City

Thousands of schools around the country have implemented whole-school reform programs to boost student performance. This paper uses quasi-experimental methods to estimate the impact of whole-school reform on students\u27 reading performance in New York City, where various reform programs were adopted in dozens of troubled elementary schools in the mid-1990s. This paper complements studies based on random assignment by examining a broad-based reform effort and explicitly accounting for implementation quality. Two popular reform programs--the School Development and Success for All--do not significantly increase reading scores but might have if they had been fully implemented. The More Effective Schools program does boost reading scores, particularly for the poorest students, but only when program trainers remain in the school and the students are native English speakers

NEPC Review: Connecticut's Charter School Law and Race to the Top

The issue brief entitled Connecticut's Charter School Law &amp; Race to the Top by the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) recommends changes to the state's charter school law that it argues would improve funding equity and are essential to closing the state's achievement gaps. The brief's specific proposals deserve careful attention, particularly its recommendation to tie charter school funding levels to student needs. The brief, however, offers no evidence for the claim that expanding charter schools would raise the achievement of low-income students, and it presents one-sided arguments for its policy positions that ignore important considerations. The brief does not provide the thoughtful discussion of the state&rsquo;s educational goals and how charter schools might further these goals needed to improve charter school policy.</p

NEPC Review: The Impact of Milwaukee Charter Schools on Student Achievement

The Impact of Milwaukee Charter Schools on Student Achievement: A recent report from the Brookings Institution presents panel data analyses using student fixed effects models to estimate the impact of Milwaukee charter schools on student achievement. The report finds that attendance at a charter school is associated with small positive increases in math test scores and with no significant differences in reading scores. The positive effects estimates for math are largely limited to earlier years of the charter school program and to gains made during the first year in a charter, and the results might be dependent on the study&rsquo;s approach to modeling transfers between schools. The review identifies several questions about the internal and external validity of the reported estimates. Nevertheless, the methods used in the study do have important strengths. When the results are considered together with the large body of research on charter schools, the conclusion that charter schools should not be expected to have large effects on achievement in urban schools is reasonable.</p

NEPC Review: Student Achievement in Florida's Charter Schools (Florida Department of Education, March 2019)

In March 2019, the Florida Department of Education published a report titled Student Achievement in Florida&rsquo;s Charter Schools. The report consists almost entirely of simple graphs comparing achievement levels, achievement gaps, and achievement gains on statewide tests among charter school students to those among traditional public school students. Beyond the odd exercise of counting the number of comparisons that appear favorable to charter schools, the report offers no discussion. The comparisons are not even explained. The fact that the report merely presents comparisons required by law without putting any policy &ldquo;spin&rdquo; on them might be considered a virtue. The danger is that the report might encourage erroneous conclusions. The simple comparisons reveal very little about the relative effectiveness of charter schools and still less about other policy questions. At the very least, the report should have clarified the purposes of its comparisons and cautioned the reader against drawing unwarranted conclusions.</p

Racial Disparities in School Poverty and Spending: Examining Allocations Within and Across Districts

Using recently available school-level finance data, we compare exposure to low-income classmates and average per pupil spending for black, Hispanic, and white students. Using within metropolitan area comparisons, we find that the typical black and Hispanic students attend schools with much higher proportions of low-income students than the typical white student, and that per pupil spending in the typical black and Hispanic students’ schools is higher than in the typical white student’s school. Drawing on estimates of the additional spending required to provide low-income students equal educational opportunity, we find that it is unlikely that the additional spending in schools where black and Hispanic students tend to enroll is sufficient to address the high level of student need in these schools. Middle range estimates indicate that cost-adjusted spending the typical black and Hispanic students’ schools is only 88 percent of that in the average white student’s school. Approximately 40 percent of the racial disparities in cost-adjusted spending are due to differences across schools within districts, although within district disparities play a much greater role in the South and West than in the Northeast and Midwest. Racial disparities are largest in the Northeast, and racial disparities across districts did not change significantly between 2006 and 2008