Anyone know of any studies on charter or magnet schools?

[jujsky]

My friend and I are having a debate about public education, and I've taken the stance that there needs to be more school choice -- including magnet and charter schools. He says that he has never seen a study that says magnet or charter schools produce better results. Does a study like that exist? I did a search and couldn't come up with anything.

 

TIA!

[Hen]

not off the top of my head, but I make it a point to read Education Next magazine when i see it at Barnes & Nobles, and they have had several indepth articles about Charter schools, with studies, charts and all. You might want to look there.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I don't....however my experience has been:

 

* magnet schools always have better results

* charter schools often have worse or inconsistent results

 

Of course, that isn't scientific and it may not be representative. It's just what I've seen.

[Sara R]

Charter schools are similar to homeschools, in that there is a lot of diversity in what they do. Homeschoolers range the gamut from radical unschoolers to strict school-at-home teachers, but even though what they do is very different, they would all be labeled homeschoolers for the purpose of the study. If their results were very different, that would make sense because what they call education is so different.

 

Same with charter schools. Some are quite rigorous. Some are a little like the school that Patrick went in Auntie Mame. It would make sense that results are inconsistent.

 

Anyway, I would guess it depends on the charter school and the curriculum and philosophy they use. I've been happy with my daughter's experience.

[Mrs Mungo]

Some are a little like the school that Patrick went in Auntie Mame.

 

 

I love this comparison. That is all. :D

[OrganicAnn]

On Charter schools. I read a series of two articles on the pros and cons of charter schools. It was in a newspaper from Dayton OH. Dayton OH has one of the largest number of charter schools in the country.

[Mommyof4ks]

I don't know of any studies, but the magnet school that I attended for high school gave me a higher quality education than my peers in the mainstream school. We had ex college professors teaching us, and we had options like Latin, Art History, etc. that others in our community did not have.

 

The charter schools in this area seem to be about the same as ps, and they close after a few years.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

not off the top of my head, but I make it a point to read Education Next magazine when i see it at Barnes & Nobles, and they have had several indepth articles about Charter schools, with studies, charts and all. You might want to look there.

 

Education Next has a good online archive that you can check out. I don't think that there have been broad conclusive studies about charters in general that prove they are good or bad. There are many good charters that provide a good education. There are some charters that are poorly supported and often have an agenda that isn't always providing a great education.

 

What you might look for are some of the results of students that did and did not receive vouchers for schools after entering a lottery for said voucher. There are some pretty compelling results with these studies. And since they compare families who entered the lottery but did and did not receive voucher or private school slots, there is some better randomization.

[Poke Salad Annie]

Education Next has a good online archive that you can check out. I don't think that there have been broad conclusive studies about charters in general that prove they are good or bad. There are many good charters that provide a good education. There are some charters that are poorly supported and often have an agenda that isn't always providing a great education.

 

What you might look for are some of the results of students that did and did not receive vouchers for schools after entering a lottery for said voucher. There are some pretty compelling results with these studies. And since they compare families who entered the lottery but did and did not receive voucher or private school slots, there is some better randomization.

 

Very interesting.

[OhM]

Here's an evalutaion of the Washington DC Opportunity Scholarship program. (By the Department of Education, no less!) It was rather inconveniently issued around the same time that the program was being killed for this school year. (I think that was the result? The program was scrapped?) It seemed to be working there.

 

And here are links from the Alliance for School Choice - scroll down for "independent research". That could keep you busy all day!

[WeeBeaks]

There was a big article in the LA Times last month or this month about charters and the positive impact they are having in that district in terms of competition with the regular PS. The feeling of the author in analyzing scores and interviews, was that the charter competition has led to increased performance in the regular public schools in the area. I read it hardcopy, but it may be online at the Los Angeles Times site as well if you are interested in it.