A new descriptive study by Marcus Winters examines whether low-performing students are more likely to exit charter schools than surrounding traditional public schools.
We’re all aware of the claim that some charter schools “counsel out” their lowest performing students, so this analysis looks into whether there’s evidence to that claim. Analysts use six years of student-level administrative data from New York City (2006–12) and Denver (2007–13), two large urban districts with growing and effective charter sectors. They use test scores from grades 3–8, which are combined into one math-ELA standardized measure for each student by grade and year.
The researchers find that low-performing students are on average more mobile than their higher-performing peers. Yet low-performing students in both cities are either equally likely or less likely to exit their charter schools than are students in traditional public schools. In particular, in New York City, low performers are about 5 percentage points less likely to exit their charter school than their traditional school. In Denver, there is no statistical difference between the sectors.
This study does not get into the more qualitative question of whether schools are pushing students out. Yet, the analysts conclude: “[I]f attrition of low-performing students is worrisome for charter schools as evidence of ‘pushing out’ students, it appears to be at least as worrisome for traditional public schools.”
A wise reminder to the pot not to call the kettle black.
SOURCE: Marcus A. Winters et al., “Are low-performing students more likely to exit charter schools? Evidence from New York City and Denver, Colorado,” Economics of Education Review (February 2017).
