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Technical Report: How New York City Charter Schools Affect Achievement

NCJ Number
237275
Author(s)
Caroline M. Hoxby; Jenny Lee Kang; Sonali Murarka
Date Published
September 2009
Length
94 pages
Annotation
This study examined how New York City charter schools affect the achievement rates for students.
Abstract
Highlights from the study findings on the effect of charter schools on student achievement rates include: students who received 9 years of treatment in charter schools (grades K through 8th) scored about 30 points higher in math and 23 points higher in language arts than those students who remained in traditional public schools; improvements in test scores for science and social studies were also observed for charter school students in grades 3 through 8; and achievement scores for charter school students in grades 9 through 12 were significantly higher for regent examinations in math, comprehensive English, global history, living environment, and U.S. history. This study examined how New York City charter schools affect the achievement rates for students. The study analyzed the achievement scores for charter school students enrolled in test-taking grades (grades 3 through 12) for the school years 2000-2001 through 2007-2008. The achievement rates of the charter school students were compared to those of students who remained in traditional public schools. The results show that New York City charter schools have a significant impact on improving the achievement rates for students, and that this impact is not affected by the race/ethnicity of the student, the gender of the student, or the number of years the student was in the study. The findings also indicate an association between charter schools' policies and their effects on student achievement rates. References, tables, figures, appendix