BHI: Why Massachusetts Should Double the Number of Charter Schools

Charter schools serve better results for minority and low-income students

(BOSTON ) – Charter schools outperform traditional schools at the eighth and tenth grade levels when they are matched with traditional schools having similar concentrations of minority and low-income students. This is the finding of the latest study from the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University, which is entitled, Why Massachusetts Should Double the Number of Charter Schools.

The Institute’s study demonstrates that charter schools outperform non-charter public schools on the 8th and 10th grade MCAS exams by statistically significant margins after controlling for socio-economic differences among the student populations. Specifically, the study found a:

• 6.2% to 9.9% improvement over the scores for traditional schools in eighth grade English;
• 9.8% to 23.0% improvement over the scores for traditional schools in eighth grade mathematics;
• 25.7% improvement over the scores for traditional schools in tenth grade mathematics; and
• 8.2% to 13.7% improvement over the scores for traditional schools in tenth grade English.

"We offer several explanations to account for these findings, paramount among them being the freedom charter schools enjoy from bureaucratic restrictions,” said Jonathan Haughton, one of the study’s authors. “This freedom allows charter school teachers to innovate with methods denied to their non-charter counterparts.” The ability of charter schools to discipline students may be a contributing factor to their success according to the authors of the report.

While it found that charters do not score significantly better at the fourth grade level, the study found that students who continue onto the 8th and 10th grades in charter schools do better over the long term.

The findings suggest that the Commonwealth should expand the number of charter school in order to improve the educational performance of Massachusetts students, particularly minority and low income students. “If policymakers desire improved student test scores without greater costs, they would be well served to lift the restrictions obstructing charter school growth and amend legislation governing traditional public schools to incorporate similar elements of freedom and accountability,” write the authors of the report.

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