IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v31y2012i2p225-236.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Choices for studying choice: Assessing charter school effectiveness using two quasi-experimental methods

Author

Listed:
  • Davis, Devora H.
  • Raymond, Margaret E.

Abstract

Two quasi-experimental methods – fixed effects (FE) and virtual control records (VCR) – were used to measure charter schooling in 14 states and two districts. The new VCR method uses all available observable charter student characteristics and prior performance to create a composite comparison record. A head-to-head comparison of the FE and VCR methods used the same charter students to test the FE control (e.g., the charter student's own traditional public school experience) and the VCR for equivalence. The comparison produced highly similar estimates; charter coefficients were identical in sign and significance and of the same general magnitudes. In an analysis of the sampling fractions included in each method using all available tested charter students, the VCR method was found to produce more generalizable results. In the policy analysis, charter school quality was found to be demographically and geographically uneven with only 19 percent of charter schools outperforming their local markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Davis, Devora H. & Raymond, Margaret E., 2012. "Choices for studying choice: Assessing charter school effectiveness using two quasi-experimental methods," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 225-236.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:31:y:2012:i:2:p:225-236
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.08.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775711001452
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.08.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanushek, Eric A. & Kain, John F. & Rivkin, Steven G. & Branch, Gregory F., 2007. "Charter school quality and parental decision making with school choice," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 823-848, June.
    2. repec:mpr:mprres:7380 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Zimmer, Ron & Gill, Brian & Booker, Kevin & Lavertu, Stéphane & Witte, John, 2012. "Examining charter student achievement effects across seven states," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 213-224.
    4. Alberto Abadie & Alexis Diamond & Jens Hainmueller, 2007. "Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California's Tobacco Control Program," NBER Technical Working Papers 0335, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Tuttle, Christina Clark & Gleason, Philip & Clark, Melissa, 2012. "Using lotteries to evaluate schools of choice: Evidence from a national study of charter schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 237-253.
    6. repec:mpr:mprres:6676 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. repec:mpr:mprres:7293 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:mpr:mprres:6720 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Ladd, Helen F. & Walsh, Randall P., 2002. "Implementing value-added measures of school effectiveness: getting the incentives right," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 1-17, February.
    10. Caroline M. Hoxby & Sonali Murarka, 2009. "Charter Schools in New York City: Who Enrolls and How They Affect Their Students' Achievement," NBER Working Papers 14852, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zimmer, Ron & Gill, Brian & Booker, Kevin & Lavertu, Stéphane & Witte, John, 2012. "Examining charter student achievement effects across seven states," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 213-224.
    2. repec:mpr:mprres:8005 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Kevin Booker & Brian Gill & Tim Sass & Ron Zimmer, "undated". "Charter High Schools' Effects on Long-Term Attainment and Earnings (Working Paper)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports cfe561a4b1924b7eafb64f918, Mathematica Policy Research.
    4. Toma, Eugenia & Zimmer, Ron, 2012. "Two decades of charter schools: Expectations, reality, and the future," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 209-212.
    5. Tavares, Priscilla Albuquerque, 2015. "The impact of school management practices on educational performance: Evidence from public schools in São Paulo," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-15.
    6. Ni, Yongmei & Rorrer, Andrea K., 2012. "Twice considered: Charter schools and student achievement in Utah," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 835-849.
    7. John D. Singleton, 2019. "Incentives and the Supply of Effective Charter Schools," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2568-2612, July.
    8. Carruthers, Celeste K., 2012. "New schools, new students, new teachers: Evaluating the effectiveness of charter schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 280-292.
    9. Winters, Marcus A., 2012. "Measuring the effect of charter schools on public school student achievement in an urban environment: Evidence from New York City," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 293-301.
    10. Garritt L. Page & Ernesto San Martín & Javiera Orellana & Jorge González, 2017. "Exploring complete school effectiveness via quantile value added," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 180(1), pages 315-340, January.
    11. Dennis Epple & Richard Romano & Ron Zimmer, 2015. "Charter Schools: A Survey of Research on Their Characteristics and Effectiveness," NBER Working Papers 21256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Singleton, John D., 2017. "Putting dollars before scholars? Evidence from for-profit charter schools in Florida," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 43-54.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carruthers, Celeste K., 2012. "New schools, new students, new teachers: Evaluating the effectiveness of charter schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 280-292.
    2. Ron Zimmer & Brian Gill & Jonathon Attridge & Kaitlin Obenauf, 2014. "Charter School Authorizers and Student Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(1), pages 59-85, January.
    3. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    4. Leme, Maria Carolina & Louzano, Paula & Ponczek, Vladimir & Souza, André Portela, 2012. "The impact of structured teaching methods on the quality of education in Brazil," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 850-860.
    5. Cid, Alejandro & Balsa, Ana, 2012. "Impact Evaluation of a Privately Managed Tuition-Free Middle school in a Poor Neighborhood in Montevideo," MPRA Paper 39913, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Ni, Yongmei & Rorrer, Andrea K., 2012. "Twice considered: Charter schools and student achievement in Utah," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 835-849.
    7. Andrew Bibler & Stephen B. Billings, 2020. "Win or Lose: Residential Sorting After a School Choice Lottery," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(3), pages 457-472, July.
    8. Clément de Chaisemartin & Luc Behaghel, 2020. "Estimating the Effect of Treatments Allocated by Randomized Waiting Lists," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1453-1477, July.
    9. repec:mpr:mprres:8005 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Sorensen, Lucy C. & Holt, Stephen B., 2021. "Sorting it Out: The Effects of Charter Expansion on Teacher and Student Composition at Traditional Public Schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. repec:mpr:mprres:7927 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Margaret Brehm & Scott A. Imberman & Michael Naretta, 2017. "Capitalization of Charter Schools into Residential Property Values," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-27, Winter.
    13. Will Dobbie & Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2009. "Are High Quality Schools Enough to Close the Achievement Gap? Evidence from a Social Experiment in Harlem," NBER Working Papers 15473, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Imberman, Scott A., 2011. "The effect of charter schools on achievement and behavior of public school students," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 850-863.
    15. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2011. "Injecting Successful Charter School Strategies into Traditional Public Schools: A Field Experiment in Houston," NBER Working Papers 17494, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2010. "Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 16256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Ludger Wößmann, 2008. "Efficiency and equity of European education and training policies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(2), pages 199-230, April.
    18. Marisa von Fintel & Servaas van der Berg, 2017. "What a difference a good school makes! Persistence in academic performance and the impact of school quality," Working Papers 07/2017, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics, revised 2017.
    19. Dennis Epple & Richard Romano & Ron Zimmer, 2015. "Charter Schools: A Survey of Research on Their Characteristics and Effectiveness," NBER Working Papers 21256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Rossella Verzulli & Rowena Jacobs & Maria Goddard, 2018. "Autonomy and performance in the public sector: the experience of English NHS hospitals," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(4), pages 607-626, May.
    21. María Jesús Mancebón & Domingo P. Ximénez-de-Embún & Mauro Mediavilla & José María Gómez-Sancho, 2019. "Does the educational management model matter? New evidence from a quasiexperimental approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 107-135, January.
    22. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Raymond Gradus & J. Jong, 2013. "Competition and educational quality: evidence from the Netherlands," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 607-634, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    School choice; Educational economics;

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:31:y:2012:i:2:p:225-236. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.