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Charter Schools

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Charter schools have become a prominent alternative to traditional public schools in the quest to improve K–12 education. RAND has conducted empirical, evidence-based research of charter schools across the United States to assess how charter schools affect the student population of traditional public schools and to understand the effects on student achievement and test scores in both charter schools and public schools.

Project
Are Charter Schools a Good Option in the Gulf States?
In an effort to improve public education, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama have each examined the potential of charter schools. For nearly two decades, RAND has conducted objective, evidence-based research on choice-based education reforms to help education policymakers make the right decisions for their communities.
Aug 21, 2012
Report
Charter School Students in Chicago Enjoy Better Graduation, College Entry Rates
Chicago's multi-grade charter high schools (those serving students in grades 7-12, 6-12 or K-12) appear to improve their students' chances of graduating and attending college, as compared with the city's traditional public high schools.
May 7, 2008

Explore Charter Schools

Visualization
American School District Panel Interactive Survey Results Tool: Fall 2022 Survey Results
This tool allows users to compare superintendents' responses to the fall 2022 American School District Panel survey. Charts display results for all respondents and by locale, student race and ethnicity, and district poverty level.
Feb 16, 2023
Report
The Impact and Implementation of the Chicago Collaborative Teacher Professional Development Program
The authors evaluated the Leading Educators Chicago Collaborative, a teacher professional development program aligned to Common Core State Standards, examining the program's implementation and its impact on student achievement.
Jul 6, 2022
Report
School Staffing Challenges in the Pandemic's Third Year
As of fall 2021, school staff shortages were most acute for substitutes, bus drivers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals. The turnover of superintendents was normal but half of them said that they might leave in the next few years or were unsure of how long they would stay.
Feb 15, 2022
Report
Challenges That May Be Getting in the Way of Student Learning
As of November 2021, school district leaders' top three concerns were the mental health of students, teachers, and principals. And 74 percent of them said that political polarization about COVID-19 safety or vaccines was interfering with their ability to educate students.
Feb 8, 2022
Report
Expanding Charter School Capacity: The Case of Propel Montour
Researchers examine the expansion of Propel Schools, a small, regional charter school network in southwestern Pennsylvania, to describe the academic and behavioral experiences of continuing and expansion students from fall 2017 to spring 2020.
Sep 29, 2021
Journal Article
Social Returns to Private Choice? Effects of Charter Schools on Behavioral Outcomes, Arrests, and Civic Participation
We add to the research on charter school effects by evaluating the impacts of secondary charter school attendance on 9th grade behavioral outcomes and individuals' propensity to commit crime and participate in elections as young adults in North Carolina.
Jun 5, 2020
Research Brief
Teach For America Passes the Test with Most Participants in Principal Survey
More than 85 percent of principals surveyed were satisfied with their schools' Teach for America (TFA) corps members. Principals who were TFA alumni or who led charter schools were less satisfied with corps members' abilities than other principals.
Jan 17, 2018
Report
What Do Principals Think About Teach For America?
Principals are generally satisfied with the Teach For America teachers they receive, their classroom contributions, and the professional development and support the program provides.
Jan 17, 2018
Research Brief
How Does Personalized Learning Affect Student Achievement?
Describes the concept and implementation of personalized learning and considers achievement findings in a small sample of schools.
Dec 7, 2017
Periodical
RAND Review: July-August 2017
This issue highlights recent RAND research on the prevalence and burden of chronic health conditions; on the economic benefits of U.S. overseas security commitments; and on what RAND is doing to anticipate emerging global security challenges.
Jul 11, 2017
Report
Personalized Learning: Lessons from Implementation
Personalized learning focuses on meeting students' individual needs while incorporating their interests and preferences. What does this look like in schools that have implemented personalized learning schoolwide?
Jul 11, 2017
Research Brief
Observations and Guidance on Implementing Personalized Learning
Schools implementing personalized learning were pursuing a wide variety of approaches and students closed achievement gaps relative to national norms. Observed challenges to implementation lead to recommendations for implementers.
Jul 11, 2017
Research Brief
Does School Choice Mean Students Attend Better Schools? The Case of Post–Hurricane Katrina New Orleans
Researchers examined school choice outcomes in New Orleans following 2005's Hurricane Katrina, including exit patterns of students across sectors and school types in New Orleans and the destination schools of mobile students.
Jun 22, 2017
Research Brief
Online Schools in Ohio: Examining Enrollment and Success
Who attends e-schools in Ohio? How do they perform compared with students in brick-and-mortar schools? And what do policymakers and educators need to know going forward?
Jun 8, 2017
Journal Article
Student Enrollment Patterns and Achievement in Ohio's Online Charter Schools
We utilize state data of nearly 1.7 million students in Ohio to study a specific sector of online education: K–12 schools that deliver most, if not all, education online, lack a brick-and-mortar presence, and enroll students full-time.
Mar 28, 2017
Journal Article
School Choice, Student Mobility, and School Quality: Evidence from Post-Katrina New Orleans
This paper analyzes student mobility in post-Katrina New Orleans between and within the various sectors and school types using a multinomial framework.
Nov 24, 2015
Commentary
Narrowing the Income Achievement Gap
The achievement gap between children from the highest- and lowest-income families has substantially grown since 1960. The income achievement gap is now about twice the size of the black-white achievement gap.
Jun 12, 2014
Blog
What Do We Know About Charter Schools? Moving Beyond the Talking Points
Since their inception in 1992, charter schools have been a lightning rod for controversy in the education policy world. Research highlights the importance of moving beyond test scores and broadening the scope of measures that evaluate success in order to fully assess the performance of charter schools.
Apr 4, 2013
Multimedia
Remaking a School System in the Wake of Natural Disaster
In this Resilient Communities podcast, Jennifer Steele discusses the differences in policies and practices between charter and traditional schools in New Orleans, where charter-based reform spread in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
May 15, 2012

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