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Charter Schools: A Survey of Research on Their Characteristics and Effectiveness

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  • Dennis Epple
  • Richard Romano
  • Ron Zimmer

Abstract

The charter school movement is nearing its 25th anniversary, making this an opportune time to take stock of the movement by addressing the following questions: Where do charter schools locate? Who do they serve? Who manages them? Who teaches in them? Most importantly, what are the effects of charter schools on the academic performance of students who enroll in charters and on students who remain in traditional public schools? We review research findings that shed light on these questions.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21256
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    Cited by:

    1. Tobin, Zachary, 2024. "How do public schools respond to competition? Evidence from a charter school expansion," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2022. "Why Subsidize Independent Schools? Estimating the Effect of a Unique Canadian Schooling Model on Educational Attainment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Hinnerich, Björn Tyrefors & Vlachos, Jonas, 2017. "The impact of upper-secondary voucher school attendance on student achievement. Swedish evidence using external and internal evaluations," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Ana Inés Balsa & Alejandro Cid, 2016. "A randomized impact evaluation of a tuition-free private school targeting low income students in Uruguay," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 19, pages 65-94, May.
    5. Ridley, Matthew & Terrier, Camille, 2018. "Fiscal and education spillovers from charter school expansion," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 91700, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. 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).
    7. Steve Machin & Sandra McNally & Camille Terrier & Guglielmo Ventura, 2020. "Closing the Gap between Vocational and General Education? Evidence from University Technical Colleges in England," CESifo Working Paper Series 8678, CESifo.
    8. Burgess, Simon, 2016. "Human Capital and Education: The State of the Art in the Economics of Education," IZA Discussion Papers 9885, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Ana Balsa & Alejandro Cid & Ana Laura Zardo, 2022. "Providing academic opportunities to vulnerable adolescents: a randomised evaluation of privately managed tuition-free middle schools in Uruguay," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 340-379, October.
    10. Cook, Jason B., 2018. "The effect of charter competition on unionized district revenues and resource allocation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 48-62.
    11. Chen, Feng & Harris, Douglas N. & Penn, Mary, 2024. "The effects of charter school entry on the supply of teachers from university-based education programs," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    12. Caitlin Kearns & Douglas Lee Lauen & Bruce Fuller, 2020. "Competing With Charter Schools: Selection, Retention, and Achievement in Los Angeles Pilot Schools," Evaluation Review, , vol. 44(2-3), pages 111-144, April.
    13. Edmark, Karin & Persson, Lovisa, 2021. "The impact of attending an independent upper secondary school: Evidence from Sweden using school ranking data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. Benjamin Master & Min Sun? & Susanna Loeb, 2018. "Teacher Workforce Developments: Recent Changes in Academic Competitiveness and Job Satisfaction of New Teachers," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(3), pages 310-332, Summer.
    15. 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.
    16. Gershenson, Seth, 2021. "Identifying and Producing Effective Teachers," IZA Discussion Papers 14096, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Edmark, Karin & Hussain, Iftikhar & Haelermans, Carla, 2020. "The Impact of Voucher Schools: Evidence From Swedish Upper Secondary Schools," Working Paper Series 3/2020, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    18. Fabre, Anaïs & Straub, Stéphane, 2019. "The Impact of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Infrastructure, Health and Education: A Review," TSE Working Papers 19-986, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Sep 2021.
    19. 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.
    20. McEachin, Andrew & Lauen, Douglas Lee & Fuller, Sarah Crittenden & Perera, Rachel M., 2020. "Social returns to private choice? Effects of charter schools on behavioral outcomes, arrests, and civic participation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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