A Think Twice Review of:

Review of Changes in the Performance of Students in Charter and District Sectors of U.S. Education: An Analysis of Nationwide Trends

Think Twice - Dec 03, 2020

Publisher/Think Tank - Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University

Author(s) - M. Danish Shakeel and Paul E. Peterson

The Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) at Harvard University recently published a research study touting improvement in the charter sector relative to district schools. The study attributes this, in part, to "enhanced charter performance."

Reviewer(s) - Yongmei Ni and Eunice Han of the University of Utah

The reviewers also point out that the study suffers from several methodological weaknesses around sampling, control of extraneous variables, and determination of statistical significance. Due to these limitations, the study fails to advance our knowledge of charter school effectiveness and offers no solid base for policy recommendations regarding whether charters merit more or less investment, nor any insight into what practices and changes might benefit the charter sector.