Research

CER Research

2012: Charter School Laws Across the States — The Essential Guide to Charter School Law
Get a quick overview with the ranking & scorecard, and further insight from the web briefing.

The State of Charter Schools: What We Know – and What We Do Not – About Performance and Accountability
This CER report provides the first-ever national analysis regarding the number of charter schools that have closed since 1992, the basis by which authorizers ensure performance-based accountability. A state-by-state breakdown of closed charters can be accessed here. And, a webinar of the press event can be found here.

Policy Perspective: The Garden State’s Missed Opportunity
CER’s report reveals new evidence of transparency and objectivity flaws in the state’s charter school authorization process. The findings make a strong case in support of the bi-partisan effort to reform the law allowing the creation of multiple authorizers.

Fact-Checking School Choice Research
There are few issues in education that evoke more interest and emotion than school choice. Nearly 200,000 children benefit from choice programs in 12 states and DC. This new CER report looks at the impact school choice is having throughout the country.

Fact-Checking Charter School Achievement
Fact-Checking Charter School Achievement documents the true achievement of charter schools, a reform celebrated daily in more than 5,000 schools in 40 states around the country.

Annual Survey of America’s Charter Schools 2010
CER’s annual national overview of the day-to-day operations of charters reveals that charter schools are experiencing stronger parental demand than ever before, with growing waiting lists at 65% of schools.

How NYC Charter Schools Affect Achievement
This report shows that NYC charter school students will learn more over time than those students who remain in conventional public schools. Link here to the complete report How New York City’s Charter Schools Affect Achievement, Second report in series. Cambridge, MA: New York City Charter Schools Evaluation Project, September 2009. Principal Investigators: Caroline M. Hoxby, National Bureau of Economic Research and Stanford University, Sonali Murarka, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Jenny Kang, National Bureau of Economic Research

Other School Choice & Charter School Research

The State of the NYC Charter School Sector (2012)
This report from the New York City Charter School Center gives an in-depth look into the city’s charter schools data, demographics and achievement. Charters continue to be a viable alternative for parents looking to better their children’s education in the Big Apple. Sixty-nine percent of New York City charter school students scored “proficient” or better on the state math test, compared to 57 percent for students enrolled in the city’s traditional public schools. New York City’s charter students slightly outperformed the city’s traditional public school students on the state reading assessment. Fortunately for New York City’s students, next year more than two dozen new charter schools will open in the city, and it is expected that by 2017 charter schools will account for 10 percent of New York City public school enrollment.

CMOs Have Positive Impact on Student Learning Study Shows
Charter Management Organization (CMOs) schools represent 17% of our nation’s charter schools and are showing increased effectiveness over district schools, according to a recent study. CMOs are located in urban areas of specific states with charter laws that allow CMOs to manage and have autonomy. The 2-year study looks at student achievement, teacher performance and school management. Read a summary here.

Education Choice and Competition Index: New report grades 25 of the nation’s largest school districts according to 13 school choice and competition criteria. Interactive website arms public with data that can be used to push for changes that make school systems work better for students. The criteria look at various types of school choice, including virtual schooling options, all alternatives to traditional public schools, including charters and magnet, how accessible information on choice is available to the public, and quality of schools within districts based on performance data. New York City came out on top earning a B (no district received an A) with Chicago a close second, largely because of their alternative schools and process of families selecting their own high school. But of course, we have some higher standards than whether a district controls a parent’s choices. Stay tuned for CER’s Parent Power Index, coming soon!

Parent, Student Satisfaction in New Orleans Charters
New Orleans has been a model of education reform, since Hurricane Katrina decimated the city and the school system in 2005. Currently, 70% of students in the Big Easy attend charter schools, and according to a new report by RAND Corp., their parents are more satisfied with their education. Forty-one percent of charter school parents gave their child’s school an A on a scale of A to F, as opposed to only 18% of conventional school parents. The satisfaction that parents and students have for their school of choice is undeniable and echoes other reports on the subject.