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The Evaluation of Charter School Impacts: Final Report

Adding to the growing debate and evidence base on the effects of charter schools, this evaluation was conducted in 36 charter middle schools in 15 states. It compares the outcomes of 2,330 students who applied to these schools and were randomly assigned by lotteries to be admitted (lottery winners) or not admitted (lottery losers) to the schools. Both sets of students were tracked over two years and data on student achievement, academic progress, behavior, and attitudes were collected. The study is the first large-scale randomized trial of the effectiveness of charter schools in varied types of communities and states.

Key findings include:

Because the study could only include charter middle schools that held lotteries, the results do not necessarily apply to the full set of charter middle schools in the U.S.

PDF File View, download, and print the report as a PDF file (1.8 MB)
PDF File View, download, and print the executive summary as a PDF file (420 KB)
PDF File View, download, and print the four-page study snapshot as a PDF file (444 KB)