The Evaluation of Charter School Impacts: Final Report. NCEE 2010-4029
Gleason, Philip; Clark, Melissa; Tuttle, Christina Clark; Dwoyer, Emily (2010). National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED510573
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examining2,150Students, grades4-7
The Evaluation of Charter School Impacts: Final Report. NCEE 2010-4029
Review Details
Reviewed: September 2010
- Quick Review (77 KB) (findings for American charter schools)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Math z-score |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.34 |
0.39 |
No |
-- | |
|
Math z-score |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 2 |
Overall;
|
0.32 |
0.38 |
No |
-- | |
|
Reading z-score |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.40 |
0.44 |
No |
-- | |
|
Reading z-score |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 2 |
Overall;
|
0.31 |
0.38 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Parent presence in student's school index |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
1.86 |
1.75 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent reports being called about behavior |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.26 |
0.23 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Student sent out of class 5+ times |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.23 |
0.19 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent reports bad behavior in school |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.09 |
0.09 |
No |
-- | |
|
Student reported bad behavior index |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
1.18 |
1.18 |
No |
-- | |
|
Student reported good behavior index |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
2.27 |
2.27 |
No |
-- | |
|
Student suspended |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.04 |
0.04 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent is a member of school's PTA |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.33 |
0.39 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Student suspended |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 2 |
Overall;
|
0.05 |
0.06 |
Yes |
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Student reports completing homework mostly or always |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.91 |
0.86 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent reported index of how well-adjusted student is |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
3.42 |
3.34 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent reports that student works hard |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.92 |
0.91 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Extracurricular activing index |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
2.75 |
2.54 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent expects student to attend college |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.93 |
0.92 |
No |
-- | |
|
Parent concerns about student index |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
2.11 |
2.13 |
No |
-- | |
|
Student reports completing homework always |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.57 |
0.57 |
No |
-- | |
|
Student expects to attend college |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.89 |
0.87 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Parent rates school as excellent |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.70 |
0.37 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Index of parent satisfaction with school |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
3.40 |
3.11 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Student likes school a lot |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.75 |
0.62 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Index of how often school calls parent |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.71 |
0.54 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Index of student feelings about school |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
3.45 |
3.31 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent strongly agrees student likes school |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.49 |
0.39 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Student reported index of teachers |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
3.42 |
3.33 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Student reported index of school's disciplinary environment |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
3.22 |
3.13 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent involvement in student's education index |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
2.80 |
2.79 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Parent reported academic difficulty index |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
1.99 |
1.92 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Grade student gives to school |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
3.43 |
3.37 |
No |
-- | |
|
Index of parent perception of sch problmes |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
1.28 |
1.46 |
Yes |
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Promoted to next grade |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.99 |
0.99 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Promoted to next grade |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 2 |
Overall;
|
0.99 |
0.99 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Late more than 5 days |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
0.19 |
0.14 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Number of days absent |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 2 |
Overall;
|
6.99 |
6.76 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Number of days absent |
American charter schools vs. Business as usual |
Year 1 |
Overall;
|
6.19 |
6.56 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
-
9% English language learners -
Race Black 11% White 58% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 28% Not Hispanic or Latino 72%
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).