Large-scale experimental evaluation of charter middle schools (Gleason et al., 2010)¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 2 studies (2 causal), q2–q3 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A federal evaluation described as "the largest charter school study of its kind to date to use an experimental design", conducted by Mathematica for the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences over a 2003-2010 time frame. It compares lottery-based charter middle schools with traditional public schools on achievement, behavior, and school progress outcomes.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Relies on charter schools that hold lotteries, enabling an experimental comparison of applicants

Constraints¶

• Findings apply to charter middle schools that hold lotteries, not all charter schools

Target Learners¶

• middle school students in lottery-based charter schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• student achievement
• student behavior
• school progress

Claims¶

• On average, lottery-based charter middle schools are neither more nor less successful than traditional public schools in improving student achievement [+M]
• Lottery-based charter middle schools show no average difference from traditional public schools in student behavior and school progress [+M]
• Impacts of charter middle schools on student outcomes varied widely across schools [+M]
• A national randomized study of the impacts of charter schools on student achievement was conducted (2003-2010), prepared for the U.S. Department of Education [+M]

Related Elements¶

• National Evaluation of Charter Middle Schools

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Philip Gleason, Melissa Clark, Christina Clark Tuttle, Emily Dwoyer. (2010). The Evaluation of Charter School Impacts. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/