Lessons learned: Urban charter schools demonstrate potential to improve student performance

While the merits of charter schools vs. traditional public schools are well-documented, some charter schools in urban areas can dramatically improve student achievement, especially among disadvantaged students, says a University of Michigan researcher. Sarah Cohodes , associate professor of public policy at U-M's Ford School of Public Policy, and colleague Susha Roy of the RAND Corporation analyzed 40 previous charter school studies that used admission lotteries to compare similar students who did or did not enroll. On average, their review found that urban charter schools following a high academic and behavioral approach produced substantial gains in standardized test scores and college enrollment. Such schools emphasize stricter discipline, extended learning time and high achievement expectations. "We can think of the individual charters and charter management organizations with big impacts on student trajectories as existence proofs: These are school models that can change young people's lives,- Cohodes said. Past studies took place in large cities in a handful of states, relying largely on older data prior to 2016.