Students in Chicago charter schools are more likely to graduate and go on to college than similar students in district-run schools, concludes a RAND-Mathematica survey. They also earn slightly higher ACT scores. The effect was strongest in schools serving students in grades 7-12, 6-12 or K-12; apparently it’s harder to make a difference starting in ninth grade. (That’s an issue for the San Jose charter high school in my book, Our School.)
For the average eighth-grade charter student in Chicago, continuing in a charter high school is estimated to lead to:
* an advantage of approximately half a point in composite ACT score (for which the median score for the students included in the analysis is 16)
* an advantage of 7 percentage points in the probability of graduating from high school
* an advantage of 11 percentage points in the likelihood of enrolling in college.
The survey found Chicago charters aren’t “skimming” the best students: Charter students are similar in previous achievement, race and ethnicity to students who attend district-run schools.
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