IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/21256.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    Note: ED
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w21256.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gregory R. Weiher & Kent L. Tedin, 2002. "Does choice lead to racially distinctive schools? Charter schools and household preferences," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(1), pages 79-92.
    2. 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.
    3. Joshua D. Angrist & Parag A. Pathak & Christopher R. Walters, 2013. "Explaining Charter School Effectiveness," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 1-27, October.
    4. Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2008. "Estimating Teacher Impacts on Student Achievement: An Experimental Evaluation," NBER Working Papers 14607, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. 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.
    6. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2003. "The Economics of School Choice," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number hox03-1, March.
    7. repec:mpr:mprres:7302 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Roland G. Fryer, Jr., 2014. "Injecting Charter School Best Practices into Traditional Public Schools: Evidence from Field Experiments," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1355-1407.
    9. Jackson, C. Kirabo, 2012. "School competition and teacher labor markets: Evidence from charter school entry in North Carolina," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(5), pages 431-448.
    10. repec:mpr:mprres:5910 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Nirav Mehta, 2017. "Competition In Public School Districts: Charter School Entry, Student Sorting, And School Input Determination," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 58(4), pages 1089-1116, November.
    12. Will Dobbie & Roland G. Fryer Jr., 2013. "Getting beneath the Veil of Effective Schools: Evidence from New York City," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 28-60, October.
    13. 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.
    14. Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1, June.
    15. Caroline Minter Hoxby, 2003. "School Choice and School Productivity. Could School Choice Be a Tide that Lifts All Boats?," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of School Choice, pages 287-342, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. David S. Lee, 2009. "Training, Wages, and Sample Selection: Estimating Sharp Bounds on Treatment Effects," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(3), pages 1071-1102.
    17. Carlson, Deven & Lavery, Lesley & Witte, John F., 2012. "Charter school authorizers and student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 254-267.
    18. Christina Clark Tuttle & Brian Gill & Philip Gleason & Virginia Knechtel & Ira Nichols-Barrer & Alexandra Resch, "undated". "KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 4e2030d4eef1429395a8dd457, Mathematica Policy Research.
    19. Kevin Booker & Tim R. Sass & Brian Gill & Ron Zimmer, 2011. "The Effects of Charter High Schools on Educational Attainment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(2), pages 377-415.
    20. repec:mpr:mprres:6676 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. repec:mpr:mprres:7681 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Hanushek, Eric A, 1992. "The Trade-Off between Child Quantity and Quality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 84-117, February.
    23. Tim R. Sass, 2006. "Charter Schools and Student Achievement in Florida," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 91-122, January.
    24. Joshua Furgeson & Brian Gill & Joshua Haimson & Alexandra Killewald & Moira McCullough & Ira Nichols-Barrer & Bing-ru Teh & Natalya Verbitsky-Savitz & Melissa Bowen & Allison Demeritt & Paul Hill & Ro, "undated". "Charter-School Management Organizations: Diverse Strategies and Diverse Student Impacts," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 718fd83257f347cfa9ec5b346, Mathematica Policy Research.
    25. Robert Bifulco & Helen F. Ladd, 2006. "The Impacts of Charter Schools on Student Achievement: Evidence from North Carolina," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 50-90, January.
    26. David J. Deming, 2014. "Using School Choice Lotteries to Test Measures of School Effectiveness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 406-411, May.
    27. Booker, Kevin & Gilpatric, Scott M. & Gronberg, Timothy & Jansen, Dennis, 2007. "The impact of charter school attendance on student performance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 849-876, June.
    28. repec:mpr:mprres:6930 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Robert Bifulco & Randall Reback, 2014. "Fiscal Impacts of Charter Schools: Lessons from New York," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(1), pages 86-107, January.
    30. Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2, June.
    31. Scott E. Carrell & Mark L. Hoekstra, 2010. "Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyone's Kids," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 211-228, January.
    32. repec:mpr:mprres:8003 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Atila Abdulkadiroğlu & Joshua D. Angrist & Susan M. Dynarski & Thomas J. Kane & Parag A. Pathak, 2011. "Accountability and Flexibility in Public Schools: Evidence from Boston's Charters And Pilots," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(2), pages 699-748.
    34. Scott A. Imberman, 2011. "Achievement and Behavior in Charter Schools: Drawing a More Complete Picture," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 416-435, May.
    35. Chakrabarti, Rajashri & Roy, Joydeep, 2016. "Do charter schools crowd out private school enrollment? Evidence from Michigan," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 88-103.
    36. Joshua M. Cowen & Marcus A. Winters, 2013. "Do Charters Retain Teachers Differently? Evidence from Elementary Schools in Florida," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 8(1), pages 14-42, January.
    37. repec:mpr:mprres:7680 is not listed on IDEAS
    38. Richard Buddin & Ron Zimmer, 2005. "Student achievement in charter schools: A complex picture," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 351-371.
    39. Booker, Kevin & Gilpatric, Scott M. & Gronberg, Timothy & Jansen, Dennis, 2008. "The effect of charter schools on traditional public school students in Texas: Are children who stay behind left behind?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 123-145, July.
    40. Bettinger, Eric P., 2005. "The effect of charter schools on charter students and public schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 133-147, April.
    41. John Engberg & Dennis Epple & Jason Imbrogno & Holger Sieg & Ron Zimmer, 2014. "Evaluating Education Programs That Have Lotteried Admission and Selective Attrition," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 27-63.
    42. Glomm, Gerhard & Harris, Douglas & Lo, Te-Fen, 2005. "Charter school location," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 451-457, August.
    43. 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.
    44. Ferreyra, Maria Marta & Kosenok, Grigory, 2018. "Charter school entry and school choice: The case of Washington, D.C," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 160-182.
    45. 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.
    46. repec:mpr:mprres:6210 is not listed on IDEAS
    47. Ron Zimmer & Brian Gill & Kevin Booker & Stephane Lavertu & Tim Sass & John Witte, "undated". "Charter Schools in Eight States: Effects on Achievement, Attainment, Integration, and Competition," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 6f5b31366ca2499e87ac2c1d0, Mathematica Policy Research.
    48. Robert Bifulco & Helen F. Ladd, 2007. "School choice, racial segregation, and test-score gaps: Evidence from North Carolina's charter school program*," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 31-56.
    49. repec:mpr:mprres:7293 is not listed on IDEAS
    50. repec:mpr:mprres:6720 is not listed on IDEAS
    51. Christina Clark Tuttle & Brian Gill & Philip Gleason & Virginia Knechtel & Ira Nichols-Barrer & Alexandra Resch, "undated". "KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes (Executive Summary)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports ce0a1376d63744699ca19f917, Mathematica Policy Research.
    52. Will Dobbie & Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2013. "The Medium-Term Impacts of High-Achieving Charter Schools on Non-Test Score Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 19581, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    53. Celeste K. Carruthers, 2012. "The Qualifications and Classroom Performance of Teachers Moving to Charter Schools," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 7(3), pages 233-268, July.
    54. 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.
    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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).
    6. Machin, Stephen & McNally, Sandra & Terrier, Camille & Ventura, Guglielmo, 2020. "Closing the Gap between Vocational and General Education? Evidence from University Technical Colleges in England," IZA Discussion Papers 13837, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. 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).
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Karin Edmark & Lovisa Persson, 2020. "The Impact of Attending an Independent Upper Secondary School: Evidence from Sweden Using School Ranking Data," CESifo Working Paper Series 8680, CESifo.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Gershenson, Seth, 2021. "Identifying and Producing Effective Teachers," IZA Discussion Papers 14096, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. 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).
    18. 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.
    19. 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).

    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. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    2. 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.
    3. repec:mpr:mprres:8005 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Bruhn, Jesse & Imberman, Scott & Winters, Marcus, 2022. "Regulatory arbitrage in teacher hiring and retention: Evidence from Massachusetts Charter Schools," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    5. 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.
    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. Joshua M. Cowen & Marcus A. Winters, 2013. "Do Charters Retain Teachers Differently? Evidence from Elementary Schools in Florida," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 8(1), pages 14-42, January.
    8. Brian P. Gill & Jennifer S. Lerner & Paul Meosky, "undated". "Re-Imagining Accountability in K-12 Education: A Behavioral Science Perspective," Mathematica Policy Research Reports d0c19d0709b641259fe391b2e, Mathematica Policy Research.
    9. Sarah A. Cordes, 2018. "In Pursuit of the Common Good: The Spillover Effects of Charter Schools on Public School Students in New York City," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(4), pages 484-512, Fall.
    10. Chakrabarti, Rajashri & Roy, Joydeep, 2016. "Do charter schools crowd out private school enrollment? Evidence from Michigan," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 88-103.
    11. 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.
    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. Carlson, Deven & Lavertu, Stéphane, 2016. "Charter school closure and student achievement: Evidence from Ohio," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 31-48.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Matthew Ridley & Camille Terrier, 2018. "Fiscal and Education Spillovers from Charter School Expansion," NBER Working Papers 25070, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. 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.
    18. Yusuke Jinnai, 2015. "How Does School Choice Improve Student Achievement? Estimating School-level Competitive Effects and Student-level Peer Effects," Working Papers EMS_2016_09, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    19. Patrick L. Baude & Marcus Casey & Eric A. Hanushek & Gregory R. Phelan & Steven G. Rivkin, 2020. "The Evolution of Charter School Quality," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(345), pages 158-189, January.
    20. 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.
    21. Joshua D. Angrist & Sarah R. Cohodes & Susan M. Dynarski & Parag A. Pathak & Christopher R. Walters, 2016. "Stand and Deliver: Effects of Boston's Charter High Schools on College Preparation, Entry, and Choice," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 275-318.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

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

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:nbr:nberwo:21256. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    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.