Ewing Marion Kauffman Charter School Evaluation (Mathematica, 2011-2024)¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 12 claims (12 for) · 5 studies (5 causal), q2 · 0 of 5 report an effect size · 12 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The evaluation is an associated Mathematica project with the stated time frame 2011-2024, prepared for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, assessing the school's impacts on "college enrollment and high school graduation, achievement, attendance, and suspensions during its first 11 years of operation." It compares Kauffman School students with comparison students in Kansas City. This report covers years 10 and 11 of the evaluation.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Prepared for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation as the associated project's funder
• Uses comparison students in Kansas City as the contrast group

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• Kauffman School students in grades 5 through 12
• Students in grades 5 through 12 in Kansas City, Missouri

Target Learning Goals¶

• Estimating school impacts on college enrollment, graduation, achievement, attendance, and suspensions
• College enrollment
• High school graduation
• Achievement, attendance, and suspension outcomes

Claims¶

• In 2021-22 the Kauffman School increased attendance rates by approximately 1 percentage point [+W]
• In 2021-22 Kauffman School students were 12 percentage points more likely than comparison students to receive at least one suspension [+W]
• The Kauffman School produced substantial positive impacts on achievement growth in mathematics, English language arts, and science each year through 2021-22, except during the 2020-21 pandemic year [+W]
• The Kauffman School had a positive and statistically significant impact on enrollment in four-year colleges, closing over 80 percent of the Black-student enrollment gap in Missouri [+W]
• The Kauffman School's impact on four-year college enrollment compares favorably to the average effects observed for other high-performing charter schools [+W]
• Kauffman School college enrollment and achievement impacts are comparable to average effects for other high-performing charter schools [+W]
• The Kauffman School has a positive and statistically significant impact on four-year college enrollment [+W]
• The Kauffman School produces sustained positive achievement growth impacts in mathematics, English language arts, and science [+W]
• Kauffman students had higher attendance rates and were less likely to be suspended than similar Kansas City students [+W]
• The Kauffman School produced positive, statistically significant, and educationally meaningful impacts on student achievement growth in mathematics, English language arts, and science in each of its first five years, beyond the growth of students in other Kansas City public schools [+W]
• The Kauffman School has higher ACT scores than the Kansas City high school average, but its impact on ACT scores could not be calculated [+W]
• During its first seven years, the Kauffman School had substantial positive impacts on student achievement growth in mathematics, English language arts, and science beyond growth in other Kansas City public schools [+W]

Related Elements¶

• Ewing Marion Kauffman School Element
• Ewing Marion Kauffman School: a tuition-free charter school serving Kansas City students in grades 5-10
• Ewing Marion Kauffman charter school in Kansas City, founded by the Kauffman Foundation

Examples¶

• Evaluate charter school impacts across college enrollment, graduation, attendance, and suspensions over multiple years

Key Sources¶

• Alicia Demers, Jessica Drescher, Matthew Johnson. (2024). Ewing Marion Kauffman School Year 10 and 11 Impacts. Mathematica. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/ewing-marion-kauffman-school-year-10-and-11-impacts
• Matthew Johnson, Dan Thal. (2020). Ewing Marion Kauffman School Year 8 Impacts. Mathematica. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/ewing-marion-kauffman-school-year-8-impacts