AUSTIN, Texas – Charter schools are making an important contribution to public education in Texas – improving educational outcomes of students both in charters and traditional public schools – according to a new study from the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

This new study by Texas A&M economists Timothy J. Gronberg, Ph.D., and Dennis W. Jansen, Ph.D., follows up on their groundbreaking 2001 report “Navigating Newly Chartered Waters.” That paper, published by the Foundation, shattered myths about charter schools and pioneered a new, more informative way to evaluate the impact of schools on student achievement. Gronberg and Jansen revealed that achievement of educationally-disadvantaged students in charter schools surpassed their peers in traditional public schools.

“Texas Charter Schools: An Assessment In 2005” sheds new light on the impact of charter schools on their own students, as well as the impact on students in traditional public schools, and corrects persisting misperceptions about charter schools. The report is available online at www.TexasPolicy.com.

The Foundation’s director of research, Chris Patterson, described the findings as “startling and will prove immensely useful for state policymakers considering ways to improve public education and parents seeking academically-sound alternatives to traditional public schools.”

She said the most important finding may be that charters are doing a better job of improving the academic performance of students at the lower end of the scales, than are traditional public schools. Patterson said that while other studies have criticized charter schools for not having higher passage rates, the population of students being served requires examination of academic gains.

In concluding their report, the authors said their views on charter schools remain positive.

“Charter schools continue to be an important, informative, and encouraging institutional design experiment,” write Drs. Gronberg and Jansen. “Our best evidence suggests that on average the kids who have chosen to try the new institution have benefited and that the kids who have remained in the existing traditional public school institution have benefited as well. These systemic benefits make a case for continuation of the charter experiment.”

Some of the high-level findings in this new study include:

  • Academic gains for elementary and middle school students who have remained in the charter school for several years, are significantly higher than their matched counterparts in traditional public schools.
  • Charter schools are generally more successful with students at the lower end of the academic achievement than with students at the higher end of achievement.
  • Students at traditional public schools facing charter competition generally achieved significantly higher gains in reading and math than schools that did not compete with charters – without any increase in traditional public school spending.

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