In its first in-depth look at charter high schools, the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research looked beyond test scores to examine the differences between charter and non-charter high schools in Chicago Public Schools.
The study, released Nov. 14, found that, on average, charter high schools in Chicago look similar to non-charter schools on some dimensions of organizational capacity and some measures of student performance. Yet, on average, charter high school students had higher attendance, test scores and rates of college enrollment than similar students in non-charter high schools. The study also found considerable variation among charter high schools on key outcomes, including test scores and college enrollment and selectivity...