Article Summary

In their article, “Charter Schools in Eight States: Effects on Achievement, Attainment, Integration, and Competition,” Ron Zimmer, Brian Gill, Kevin Booker, Stephane Lavertu, Tim Sass, and John White conducted a study to see the effectiveness of charter schools on different aspects of a student’s academic career. According to “Charter Schools in Eight States: Effects on Achievement, Attainment, Integration, and Competition,” “Charter schools are publicly funded schools that operate outside the direct control of local school districts, under a publicly issued charter that gives them greater autonomy than other public schools have over curriculum, instruction, and operations.” Areas that were examined were achievements in the areas of testing, performance, and more abstract areas that dealt with working collaboratively with others. After reviewing the study, there were considerable improvements in these areas, with exception to test scores. In particular, there were studies that indicated the likelihood was drastically increased that a student would graduate and enter a college if he or she attended a charter school. According to the article: “In the two locations with attainment data (Florida and Chicago), attending a charter high school is associated with statistically significant and substantial increases in the probability of enrolling in a college.” Even though after reviewing this study, there were not major improvements to test scores, there was no evidence that indicated that there were negative effects on achievement.  After reviewing the study, there were not significantly higher test scores for charter schools than those of public schools. However, the other areas did have sizeable areas of improvement within this study that was conducted in eight different states. This goes to show that students who choose to enroll in charter schools may be more committed and excited about learning—this resulting in permanent habits in regards to work ethic and life skills in general that will be carried on throughout their schooling and eventually into their careers. Even though there were not improvements in test scores, in real life we are tested on the areas in which the students that enrolled in charter school exceeded in; working collaboratively and effectively with others, performance, and the ability to complete a task successfully. If charter schools are doing a better job at enhancing a student’s overall life habits and skills, they are sure to embrace these skills as they enter the work force or further their education later on in life.