Review of Ohio Charter Schools After the Pandemic: Are Their Students Still Learning More Than They Would in District Schools?

An NEPC Review funded by the Great Lakes Center

Key Takeaway: Report's analysis lacks any substantial evidence in its attempt to differentiate between charter and traditional public schools.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (September 24, 2024) - A recent Fordham Institute report contends that the state's charter schools have outperformed traditional public schools and implies that they merit continued or expanded state investment. The report's conclusions lack research evidence and sound methodology, however.

These flaws are detailed in a review of Ohio Charter Schools After the Pandemic: Are Their Students Still Learning More Than They Would in District Schools? University of Kansas professor Bryan Mann finds that the report's evidence does not match its claims.

Instead, Professor Mann explains, the report relies on previously critiqued methods and provides findings that lack the strength to suggest meaningful differences between charter and traditional public schools. For instance, the study fails to control for the different student populations attending charter and comparison schools.

Ultimately, the report simply recycles flaws of past arguments and offers nothing new to the literature on charter school achievement.

Though there are undoubtedly high-performing Ohio charter schools just as there are high-performing public schools, the effort and energy spent on expanding the sector could be better spent elsewhere, Professor Mann concludes. He suggests focusing on the mechanisms that lead to successful practice in both sectors. As such the report's wholesale endorsement of one type of school over another is unfounded, and the report is of little use to policymakers.

Find the review, by Bryan Mann, at:

https://www.greatlakescenter.org

Find Ohio Charter Schools After the Pandemic: Are Their Students Still Learning More Than They Would in District Schools? , written by Stephane Lavertu and published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, at: https://fordhaminstitute.org/ohio/research/ohio-charter-schools-after-pandemic-are-their-students-still-learning-more-they-would

NEPC Reviews ( https://nepc.colorado.edu/reviews ) provide the public, policymakers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of selected publications. NEPC Reviews are made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: https://www.greatlakescenter.org

The mission of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice is to support and disseminate high-quality research and reviews of research for the purpose of informing education policy and to develop research-based resources for use by those who advocate for education reform.

Visit the Great Lakes Center website at GreatLakesCenter.org

Contacts

Michelle Renee Valladares

Bryan Mann