A Think Twice Review of:

The Productivity of Public Charter Schools

Think Twice - Aug 19, 2014

Publisher/Think Tank - Department of Education Reform (DER) at the University of Arkansas

Author(s) - Meagan Batdorff, Larry Maloney, Jay F. May, Sheree T. Speakman, Patrick J. Wolf, Albert Cheng

The authors of the report claim that this is the first national study of productivity of charter schools relative to traditional public schools. The report utilizes finding from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and “revenues received” to support that charter schools spend less per pupil than traditional public schools and produce achievement as good or superior to that of traditional public schools.

Reviewer(s) - Gene V. Glass, University of Colorado Boulder and Arizona State University

In his review, Gene V. Glass found the report inaccurately utilizes NAEP test results and that the assessment of expenditures is based on questionable data, leaving readers with little evidence on which to base any valid conclusions. The report and its conclusions rest on shaking ground and suffer from multiple sources of invalidity, rendering it useless for educators or policymakers.