scholarly journals The Impacts of Charter Schools on Student Achievement: Evidence from North Carolina

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bifulco ◽  
Helen F. Ladd
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Achievement Gains ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Impact

Using an individual panel data set to control for student fixed effects, we estimate the impact of charter schools on students in charter schools and in nearby traditional public schools. We find that students make considerably smaller achievement gains in charter schools than they would have in public schools. The large negative estimates of the effects of attending a charter school are neither substantially biased, nor substantially offset, by positive impacts of charter schools on traditional public schools. Finally, we find suggestive evidence that about 30 percent of the negative effect of charter schools is attributable to high rates of student turnover.

scholarly journals The Growing Segmentation of the Charter School Sector in North Carolina

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 536-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen F. Ladd ◽  
Charles T. Clotfelter ◽  
John B. Holbein
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
School Effectiveness ◽  
Market Model ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
School Sector ◽  
Performance Gains

A defining characteristic of charter schools is that they introduce a strong market element into public education. In this paper, we examine through the lens of a market model the evolution of the charter school sector in North Carolina between 1999 and 2012. We examine trends in the mix of students enrolled in charter schools, the racial imbalance of charter schools, patterns in student match quality by schools’ racial composition, and the distributions of test score performance gains compared to those in traditional public schools. In addition, we use student fixed effects models to examine plausibly causal measures of charter school effectiveness. Our findings indicate that charter schools in North Carolina are increasingly serving the interests of relatively able white students in racially imbalanced schools and that despite improvements in the charter school sector over time, charter schools are still no more effective on average than traditional public schools.

Does the Organization of Instruction Differ in Charter Schools? Ability Grouping and Students’ Mathematics Gains

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Mark Berends ◽  
Kristi Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Mathematics Achievement ◽  
Ability Grouping ◽  
Market Theory ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
Achievement Gains ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Group Placement

Background Although we have learned a good deal from lottery-based and quasi-experimental studies of charter schools, much of what goes on inside of charter schools remains a “black box” to be unpacked. Grounding our work in neoclassical market theory and institutional theory, we examine differences in the social organization of schools and classrooms to enrich our understanding of school choice, school organizational and instructional conditions, and student learning. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Our study examines differences in students’ mathematics achievement gains between charter and traditional public schools, focusing on the distribution and organization of students into ability groups. In short, we ask: (1) How does the distribution of ability grouping differ between charter and traditional public schools? And (2) What are the relationships between ability group placement and students’ mathematics achievement gains in charter and traditional public schools? Research Design With a matched sample of charter and traditional public schools in six states (Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio), we use regression analyses to estimate the relationship between student achievement gains and school sector. We analyze how ability grouping mediates this main effect, controlling for various student, classroom, and school characteristics. Findings We find significant differences in the distribution of students across ability groups, with a more even distribution in charter compared to traditional public schools, which appear to have more selective placements for high groups. Consistent with prior research on tracking, we also find low-grouped students to be at a significant disadvantage when compared with high- and mixed-group peers in both sectors. Conclusions Although we find some significant differences between ability group placement and student achievement gains in mathematics, these relationships do not differ as much by sector as market theory (with its emphasis on innovation and autonomy) would predict. Consistent with institutional theory, both sectors still group students by ability and have similar relationships between gains and grouping.

scholarly journals The Qualifications and Classroom Performance of Teachers Moving to Charter Schools

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste K. Carruthers
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Classroom Performance ◽  
Low Performing Schools ◽  
Traditional Public Schools

Do charter schools draw good teachers from traditional, mainstream public schools? Using a thirteen-year panel of North Carolina public schoolteachers, I find that less qualified and less effective teachers move to charter schools, particularly if they move to urban schools, low-performing schools, or schools with higher shares of nonwhite students. It is unclear whether these findings reflect lower demand for teachers’ credentials and value added or resource constraints unique to charter schools, but the inability to recruit teachers who are at least as effective as those in traditional public schools will likely hinder charter student achievement.

scholarly journals Charters without Lotteries: Testing Takeovers in New Orleans and Boston

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (7) ◽  
pp. 1878-1920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atila Abdulkadiroğlu ◽  
Joshua D. Angrist ◽  
Peter D. Hull ◽  
Parag A. Pathak
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Matched Sample ◽  
Achievement Gains ◽  
Traditional Public Schools

Charter takeovers are traditional public schools restarted as charter schools. We develop a grandfathering instrument for takeover attendance that compares students at schools designated for takeover with a matched sample of students attending similar schools not yet taken over. Grandfathering estimates from New Orleans show substantial gains from takeover enrollment. In Boston, grandfathered students see achievement gains at least as large as the gains for students assigned charter seats in lotteries. A non-charter Boston turnaround intervention that had much in common with the takeover strategy generated gains as large as those seen for takeovers, while other more modest turnaround interventions yielded smaller effects. (JEL D44, H75, I21, I28)

Injecting Charter School Best Practices into Traditional Public Schools: Evidence from Field Experiments *

2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 1355-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland G. Fryer
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Math Achievement ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
School Level ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This study examines the impact on student achievement of implementing a bundle of best practices from high-performing charter schools into low-performing, traditional public schools in Houston, Texas, using a school-level randomized field experiment and quasi-experimental comparisons. The five practices in the bundle are increased instructional time, more effective teachers and administrators, high-dosage tutoring, data-driven instruction, and a culture of high expectations. The findings show that injecting best practices from charter schools into traditional Houston public schools significantly increases student math achievement in treated elementary and secondary schools—by 0.15 to 0.18 standard deviations a year—and has little effect on reading achievement. Similar bundles of practices are found to significantly raise math achievement in analyses for public schools in a field experiment in Denver and program in Chicago.

scholarly journals Estimating the impact of export costs on Vietnam‟s export

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (Q5) ◽  
pp. 74-81
Author(s):  
Tu Thi Cam Mai
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Random Effects ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Trade Costs ◽  
Export Growth ◽  
International Competition ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Domestic Trade ◽  
The Impact

In the context of increasing international competition, production and export costs are the two crucial factors affecting the competitiveness and sustainability of developing ountries’ export growth The p per hen e fo use on estim ting the imp t of export ost on Vien m’s export value. This paper employed panel data set which covers the annual export from 2001 to 2013 of 70 Vietnamese major exporters with 910 observations. Hausman – Taylor (1981) test is used to compare the Random-effects (RE) and Fixed-effects (FE) estimations to determine the most appropriate. The findings confirmed that export cost plays an import nt role in the Vietn m’s export perform n e in the period 2001-2013. The determinants of Vietn m’s export v lue re tr e ost (-2.965), Vietn m’s GDP (0 658) importer’s GDP (0 413) importer’s popul tion (0 289) importer’s openness (0.252). This suggests that the Vietnamese Government should attempt to reduce domestic trade costs to enhance competitiveness and boost export growth sustainably.

scholarly journals Are Teacher Absences Worth Worrying About in the United States?

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles T. Clotfelter ◽  
Helen F. Ladd ◽  
Jacob L. Vigdor
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
The United States ◽  
Elementary Grades ◽  
School Year ◽  
Teacher Absences ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Income Quartile

Using detailed data from North Carolina, we examine the frequency, incidence, and consequences of teacher absences in public schools as well as the impact of a policy designed to reduce absences. The incidence of teacher absences is regressive: when schools are ranked by the fraction of students receiving free or reduced price lunches, teachers in the lowest income quartile average almost one extra sick day per school year than teachers in the highest income quartile, and schools with persistently high rates of teacher absence were much more likely to serve low-income than high-income students. In regression models incorporating teacher fixed effects, absences are associated with lower student achievement in elementary grades. Finally, we present evidence that the demand for discretionary absences is price elastic. Our estimates suggest that a policy intervention that simultaneously raises teacher base salaries and broadens financial penalties for absences could both raise teachers' expected incomes and lower districts' expected costs.

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