Stand and deliver: Effects of Boston’s charter high schools on college preparation, entry, and choice.
Angrist, J.D., Cohodes, S.R., Dynarski, S.M., Pathak, P.A., Walters, C.R. (2016). Journal of Labor Economics, 34(2), 275-318. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/683665.
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examining3,685Students, grades5-PS
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: November 2023
- Practice Guide (findings for Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Eligible for the Adams Scholarship based on Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) English language arts (ELA) and mathematics scores |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
44.00 |
19.80 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Enrolled in any college |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
6 Months |
Full sample;
|
52.50 |
49.70 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Enrolled in a 4-year college |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
18 Months |
Below median on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System for math and ELA;
|
52.70 |
30.40 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
18 Months |
Below median on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System for math and ELA;
|
66.30 |
52.00 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Enrolled in a 4-year college |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
6 Months |
Full sample;
|
50.80 |
37.40 |
Yes |
|
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Enrolled in a 2-year college |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
6 Months |
Full sample;
|
1.60 |
12.30 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) ELA assessment |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
0.12 |
-0.29 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) ELA assessment |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Subsidized Lunch ;
|
0.07 |
-0.33 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS): Math assessment |
Charter school enrollment – Angrist et al. (2016) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
0.36 |
-0.23 |
Yes |
|
|
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.
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4% English language learners -
Female: 54%
Male: 46% -
Urban
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Massachusetts
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Race Asian 3% Black 61% Other or unknown 36% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 25% Not Hispanic or Latino 75% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Free or reduced price lunch (FRPL) 73% No FRPL 27%
Study Details
Setting
This study took place in Boston Public Schools beginning when students were in grade 5, 6, or 9.
Study sample
Using random lotteries to allocate seats to students in each of six oversubscribed Boston charter schools, 3,076 students in grades 5, 6, or 9 were offered admission to a charter school and 1,635 students were not offered admission. Students could be offered admission in a first-round lottery or via a subsequent waitlist lottery. A total of 3,685 students were included in the study. To be eligible for the lottery and included in the study, students could not have a sibling in a charter school, must have applied on time, and must have lived in the Boston area. Approximately 54% of the students were female, 73% were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 18% had an individualized education plan, and 3.5% had limited English proficiency status. Sixty-one percent of the students were Black, 3% were Asian, and 36% were another race. Twenty-five percent of the students were Hispanic.
Intervention Group
Students in the intervention condition were offered enrollment in one of six Boston charter schools in grade 5, 6, or 9, depending on the school. The charter schools implemented longer school years and school days compared to other public schools in Boston. Five of the six charter schools in the study reported implementing the No Excuses pedagogy, including a focus on discipline and student behavior, and selective hiring of teachers. The charter schools also employed Teach for America corps members and alumni and provided ongoing feedback to teachers. The charter schools had been open for an average of 15 years at the beginning of the study. Some students in the intervention group did not enroll in a charter school and attended another school instead, often in the Boston Public Schools system.
Comparison Group
Most students in the comparison condition attended a school other than one of the six intervention charter schools in the Boston Public Schools system. Some of these students enrolled in one of the six charter schools even though they were not offered a seat via the lotteries.
Support for implementation
The authors do not describe supports for implementation.
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.
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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).