The Effect of Charter Schools on Student Achievement

Children attending charter elementary schools perform higher on average than traditional public schools in reading and math, according to a University of Washington study of the highest-quality research available. Students at charter middle schools also outperform their traditional counterparts in math. Study authors and economists Julian Betts and Emily Tang reviewed 40 studies of charter school achievement and scientifically combined the results, in what is termed a “meta-analysis.” Betts and Tang reviewed research randomizing students studied through lotteries and accounting for a student’s history of achievement using value-added comparisons—research considered the “most rigorous” by scientific standards.