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Charter Schools: Replication, Selection, and Spillovers

Paper Session

Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Atlanta Marriott Marquis, A701
Hosted By: American Economic Association
  • Chair: Tim Sass, Georgia State University

Can Successful Schools Replicate? Scaling Up Boston’s Charter School Sector

Sarah Cohodes
,
Columbia University and NBER
Elizabeth Setren
,
Tufts University and NBER
Christopher Walters
,
University of California-Berkeley and NBER

Abstract

Can schools that boost student outcomes reproduce their success at new campuses? We study a policy reform that allowed effective charter schools in Boston, Massachusetts to replicate their school models at new locations. Estimates based on randomized admission lotteries show that replication charter schools generate large achievement gains on par with those produced by their parent campuses. The average effectiveness of Boston’s charter middle school sector increased after the reform despite a doubling of charter market share.
We explore the roles of student composition, public school alternatives, and school practices in mediating the effectiveness of expansion charter schools. Though changes in demographic composition contributed modestly to the positive impacts of new charters, neither changes in the student body nor the quality of applicants’ fallback traditional public schools explain the pattern of results. Instead, it appears that proven providers successfully transmitted hiring and pedagogical practices to new campuses. An analysis of teacher value-added indicates that charter schools reduce returns to experience and compress the distribution of teacher effectiveness while also employing a large share of new and inexperienced teachers. These findings are consistent with the possibility that Boston’s charter schools use a highly standardized school model that limits teacher discretion, which may facilitate replicability in new contexts.

Education for All? A Nationwide Audit Study of Schools of Choice

Isaac McFarlin Jr.
,
University of Florida
Peter Bergman
,
Columbia University

Abstract

School choice programs have been widely adopted yet remain controversial. Advocates argue that school choice gives families the opportunity to select schools that are the best match for children. Critics contend public schools of choice limit access to students perceived as more expensive to educate. We conduct two nationwide field experiments to evaluate whether public schools of choice impede application information for children of a particular race, gender, family structure, special need, behavioral problems, low academic achievement, or outstanding achievement and school attendance. We send emails to charter schools and other choice-based schools from fictitious parents inquiring about the application process. Our first study focuses on charter schools and finds significant differences both in response rate and content of response. Parents who mention that a child has a special need or behavioral issue are less likely to receive a response compared to a baseline message not indicating disadvantaged status. We also find evidence of discrimination against Hispanic students. Our results tend to be larger and more significant for schools with high proficiency rates on standardized tests. When analyzing response content, we find that charter schools are significantly less likely to invite certain disadvantaged families to apply or visit schools but more likely to mention the presence of potential barriers such as application waitlists and limited school resources. In the second ongoing experiment, we construct local pairs of charter schools and traditional public schools in jurisdictions that practice different forms of intra-district choice. Our experimental design allows us to test policy-relevant hypotheses, including whether charter schools systematically limit access to certain disadvantaged students when compared to other local traditional public schools.

Government Privatization and Political Participation: The Case of Charter Schools

Jason Cook
,
University of Pittsburgh
Vladimir Kogan
,
Ohio State University
Stéphane Lavertu
,
Ohio State University
Zachary Peskowitz
,
Emory University

Abstract

Governments around the world have privatized public services in the name of efficiency and citizen empowerment, but some argue that privatization could also affect citizen participation in democratic governance. We explore this possibility by estimating the impact of charter schools (which are publicly funded but privately operated) on school district elections. The analysis indicates that the enrollment of district students in charter schools reduced the number of votes cast in district school board contests and, correspondingly, reduced turnout in the odd-year elections in which those contests are held. This impact is concentrated in districts that serve low-achieving, impoverished, and minority students, leading to a modest decline in the share of voters in those districts who are black and who have children. There is little evidence that charter school expansion affected the outcomes of school board elections or turnout in other elections.

Fiscal and Education Spillovers from Charter Expansion

Camille Terrier
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Matthew Ridley
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Abstract

The fiscal and educational consequences of charter expansion for non-charter students are central issues in the debate over charter schools. Does the charter sector drain resources and high-achieving peers from non-charter schools? This paper answers these questions using an empirical strategy that exploits a 2011 reform that lifted caps on charter schools for underperforming districts in Massachusetts. We use complementary synthetic control instrumental variable (IV-SC) and differences-in-differences instrumental variables (IV-DiD) estimators. The results suggest increased charter attendance encourages districts to shift expenditure in the traditional sector from support services to instruction and salaries. At the same time, charter expansion has a small positive effect on non-charter students’ achievement.
Discussant(s)
Susan Dynarski
,
University of Michigan
Tim Sass
,
Georgia State University
Jason Cook
,
University of Pittsburgh
JEL Classifications
  • I2 - Education and Research Institutions
  • H4 - Publicly Provided Goods