National Charter School Research Project
Research Library
The NCSRP Research Library is a listing of recent reports on charter schools. Grouped by category, this database includes reports released since 2004, with new additions added on a monthly basis. Links to each study are included. For additions, please email ncsrp@u.washington.edu.
To view different categories of reports, use the drop down menu below. To search by key word, author, or geographic area, please use the Advanced Search.
Also see Achievement Studies.
| Title | Date | Description |
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2005 |
Eight of the Board's 31 charter school campuses made adequate yearly progress as required by the NCLB Act. Thirteen out of the 31 did not serve enough students in the tested grades to be included in the calculations. 19 of the 23 public charter schools authorized by the Board, that served grades 3-11 for at least two years, increased their average test scores in reading, math, or both over the previous year. |
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2006 State of the District of Columbia Charter School Sector: A Ten Year Review |
2006 |
http://www.fightforchildren.org/docs/State_of_DC_Charters_Oct0106_Final.pdf |
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2006-07 MEAPS Show Charters Closing Academic Gap |
2007 |
This collection of charter performance data from the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA) finds that the average scores of the state’s charters exceeded the average scores of their host districts on 23 of 27 state tests in 2006-07. |
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2007 - 2008 New York State Assessments Charter Schools – New York City |
2008 |
This analysis finds that, for the fifth consecutive year, New York City charter school students, on average, are outperforming their district school peers. Nearly 85% of charter school students met or exceeded grade-level standards in math, an increase of 7.7 percentage points over the previous year. By comparison, 70.5% of other public school students in districts with charter schools, 74.3% of students citywide, and 80.7% of students statewide met or exceeded standards. In English Language Arts, 67.1% of charter school students met or exceeded grade-level standards, an increase of 10.7 points over the previous year. By comparison, 53.6% of other public school students in districts with charter schools, 57.6% of students citywide, and 68.5% of students statewide met or exceeded standards. The analysis highlights a “notable” performance of middle school students enrolled in charter schools. In math, 80.9 percent of all charter school students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades met or exceeded grade-level standards, compared to 61.7% of other middle-school students in districts with charter schools, 66.7% of middle-school students citywide, and 80.9% of middle school students in the rest of the state met or exceeded grade-level standards. In English Language Arts, 63% of charter school students in the middle grades met or exceeded standards, compared to 47% of other middle school students in districts with charter schools, 51.7% of middle-school students citywide, and 70.8% of middle school students in the rest of the state met or exceeded standards. Demographically, about 62% of the city’s charter school students are African-American compared to 32% for the city; 30% are Hispanic compared to 39 % for the city. |
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2007 Charter School Facility Finance Landscape |
2007 |
This report profiles the charter school facilities financing sector that includes all states with charter school legislation. Facility finance providers are grouped into three categories: private nonprofit organizations, public-private partnerships and public initiatives. |
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2007 Public School Academy Report to the Legislature |
2008 |
This annual report on Michigan's charter schools [known as public school academies (PSA) in the state] presents data on 230 of Michigan’s charter schools, their students, operation characteristics, and academic performance. Michigan's charter school students (which are nearly six percent of the public school population) are disproportionately urban, minority and poor. Over one-half of charter school students are eligible for free/reduced price lunch, compared to 34 percent of non-charter students. Academically, charter elementary and middle schools report encouraging academic results, while high school charter performance lags. More PSA students in grades 3-8 score proficient on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests than do their peers in the public schools in geographic districts in which the PSAs are located. African-American and Hispanic students' performance approach or match the performance levels of all non-charter students throughout Michigan. The schools continue to receive less revenue than both the districts in which they are located ($2,289 less per-pupil). Profiles of individual schools and a series of recommendations are presented. |
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A Building Need? |
2004 |
This article examines the charter school facility challenge and profiles how some states and private foundations are working to address facility finance inequities. It provides data on state aid for charter school facilities, charter schools rentals versus purchases, and bond ratings for charter schools versus traditional public schools. |
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A Closer Look at Charter Schools Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling |
2006 |
This examination of scores from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress test shows that fourth-graders in 6,764 traditional public schools scored an average of 5.2 points better in reading than students in 150 public charter schools. It also shows that traditional school students scored 5.8 points better in math than students in the public charters. Charter schools that were not affiliated with a school district, on average, had lower mean scores than public noncharter schools and district-associated charter schools. After adjusting for student characteristics, charter school mean scores in reading and mathematics remained lower, on average, than those for public noncharter schools. |
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A Commitment to Quality: National Charter School Policy Forum Report |
2008 |
This document draws on recent research as well as discussions from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement National Charter School Policy Forum (a 2008 gathering of nearly 100 education and policy leaders and researchers). It is intended to summarize the U.S. Department of Education’s “vision” of the future of the charter school movement and lays out a series of steps to achieve that vision. The Department states it envisions a charter school sector where charters achieve excellence early in their operations, where charters constantly improve, where strong programs can expand and replicate, and where charters strengthen public education by sharing successful practices and fostering choice and competition among schools. The vision also includes authorizers who would address chronic underperformance by closing poor-performing schools and opening superior options swiftly. The Department reports that it is seeking to develop ways to recognize a select group of outstanding charter schools to leverage what those charters have learned to the larger public education community. |
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A Comparison of Student Academic Growth Between Indiana Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools |
2009 |
In a University of Indianapolis CELL study commissioned by Indiana Black Expo, the Indianapolis Urban League and the DeHaan Family Foundation, researchers sought to answer three questions: How do charter school students differ from traditional public school students? What is the level of growth in charter student performance relative to traditional school students controlling for gender, ethnicity and initial performance? How do charter schools and traditional public schools compare in costs associated with student achievement? The study analyzes enrollment and financial data from the Indiana Department of Education as well as two types of testing data (ISTEP and NWEA MAP). The study finds that Indiana charter school students tend to more often be minority students, of lower socioeconomic status, and have lower initial test scores. The study also finds that charter school students show greater improvement in scores and for lower cost than per-point gains than traditional public schools. |
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A Constitutional Right to Operate Sectarian Public Charter Schools: Considerations of Free Speech and Free Exercise of Religion in California Charter Schools |
2005 |
This article examines potential legal problems that may result from the current separation of church and state in California’s charter schools. The author finds an abundance of anecdotal information that religious organizations play a role in many of the state’s charter schools. He cites many cases where religion in the public schools has been a contentious issue. |
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A Forced Conversion to Charter School |
2005 |
This article takes a look at the first forced conversion of a poor-performing middle school in Colorado. Parents, school officials, community leaders, Greg Richmond, and KIPP officials are interviewed. |
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A Framework for Acadmeic Quality: A Report from the National Consensus Panel on Charter School Academic Quality |
2008 |
The report, which offers a framework for creating improvement in charter schools across the country, recommends four essential indicators of academic quality in charter schools -- student achievement level, student progress over time, post-secondary readiness and success, and student engagement. For each of the four indicators, the framework includes a common set of specific measures, metrics, targets and benchmark comparisons. The framework is intended to help school operators strengthen assessment of their education programs and demonstrate academic performance to external parties such as their authorizing agencies and the public. |
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A Primer on Pennsylvania Cyber Schools |
2008 |
This policy brief examines online charter schooling in Pennsylvania, addressing financing and enrollment issues. In the 2005-06 school year, the average cyber school expenditure per pupil was $8,371. The state average per pupil spending that year was $11,485 – about $3,000 more than cyber schools. The authors document that cyber charter schools are growing in all regions of the state. Enrollment increased from 1,852 in 2001-02 to 15,865 in 2006-07 – an increase of nearly 760% over five years. The Pennsylvania Department of Education estimates that 20,000 cyber students were enrolled during the 2007-08 school year. Students come from nearly all 501 of the state’s districts. In the 2005-06 school year, 43% of cyber students came from low-income families, contrasted with the state average of 34%. Special education students accounted for about 11% of cyber school enrollment, which is less than the 14.9% statewide average. |
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A State Policymaker's Guide to Alternative Authorizers of Charter School |
2005 |
This ECS Issue Brief is designed to help state policymakers think through what kind of alternative authorizing structures may make sense for their states. The paper presents the advantages, disadvantages, and policy considerations for each of seven types of alternative authorizers (independent special purpose charter boards; universities and colleges; state boards, commissioners and departments of education; mayors; city councils; nonprofit organizations; and regional educational entities). In addition, it discusses the critical design issues facing states interested in creating alternative authorizers. |
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