About 30 percent of South Carolina charter schools outperform traditional alternatives in reading and 15 percent in math, while 22 percent and 33 percent underperform¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2022: local conditions change quickly

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In reading, 16 of 54 charter schools (30 percent) perform significantly better than the traditional schooling alternatives; in math, 8 of 55 (15 percent) post significantly higher growth. → CREDO 2019

Evidence¶

CREDO 2019¶

CREDO, Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University. (2019). Charter School Performance in South Carolina. https://credo.stanford.edu/reports/item/charter-school-performance-in-south-carolina-2019-2/

q3 · i? · causal · r2

School-level analysis of 54 schools with reading scores and 55 with math scores over the 2016-17 and 2017-18 growth periods, using pooled VCRs as the control condition; 12 of 54 schools (22 percent) had significantly weaker reading performance.

"In reading, 16 out of 54 South Carolina charter schools, or 30 percent, perform significantly better that the traditional schooling environments the charter students would have otherwise attended."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• South Carolina charter students show similar reading growth but weaker math growth than traditional public school peers, with a math disadvantage of 53 fewer days of learning per year — related
• Charter enrollment duration matters: first-year students lag in both subjects, while fourth-year students outperform in reading but still lag in math — related
• Charter math disadvantage varies across growth periods and narrows over time, with no significant math difference in 2017-18 — related
• South Carolina charter schools enroll larger shares of white students and smaller shares of students in poverty, ELLs, and special education students than TPS — related
• Charter middle school students gain in math while multi-level charter students lag in both subjects relative to TPS peers — related
• Online charter school students show substantially weaker growth than both TPS peers and brick-and-mortar charter students in reading and math — related
• Charter school students perform consistently better on standardized mathematics achievement measures than traditional public school peers, with modest differences — reports the opposite
• Charter school outcomes are mixed as a group, with 17% of charters producing greater academic gains and 37% performing worse than traditional public schools serving similar students — a broader claim this one bears on
• Charter school quality varies greatly, and virtual charters perform significantly worse, while charters often increase segregation and underrepresent students with disabilities — a broader claim this one bears on
• Average charter schools perform about the same as nearby traditional public schools, with large variation in effects — related