Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), founded and directed by Hoover distinguished fellow and scholar on education policy Margaret (Macke) Raymond, has released As a Matter of Fact: The National Charter School Study III 2023 (NCSS3), the third in a series of reports over a 15-year period that measure the academic progress of students enrolled in charter schools across the United States. In the current report, Raymond and CREDO researchers present findings in their analysis of student achievement data in 29 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City, in a period ranging from 2014 to 2019.
The report reveals that through the lens of year-to-year progress between 2015 and 2019, the typical charter school student had reading and math gains that outpaced those of their peers in traditional public schools. In reading, charter school students experienced average learning gains of additional six days in math and 16 days in reading. The researchers demonstrate that these learning gains were realized by tens of thousands of charter school students across the country, and progress was particularly strong among Blacks and Hispanics and those living in poverty. The study notes that these gains show that it is possible to achieve positive learning outcomes at scale and accelerate growth for students who have been inadequately served by traditional public school systems.
