How effective are NC charter schools? Researchers to take a deep look at them
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The Collaboratory-funded Carolina Charter School Research Lab will study NC charters.
- The lab will begin in August with a Maturity Study and an Academic Comparability Study.
- Charter schools enroll 161,507 students across 211 schools, over 10% of public enrollment.
A new state-funded research effort aims to ask the tough questions facing the state’s rapidly growing network of charter schools.
The newly formed Carolina Charter School Research Lab will look into charter school policies and practices in North Carolina. This could include looking at how charters are doing compared to traditional public schools, how much does teacher licensure matter and why do some demographic groups not attend charter schools
“We’re not always going to tell you what you want to hear,” Jeni Corn of the North Carolina Collaboratory told the N.C. Charter Schools Review Board earlier this month. “But we’re going to tell you what you need to hear.”
Corn is the social sciences research director at the Collaboratory, which is based at UNC-Chapel Hill and is funding the charter school research lab.
In 2016, state lawmakers created the North Carolina Collaboratory to do research on the most pressing problems facing the state. In recent years, the Collaboratory has turned more of its focus on K-12 education issues.
Are charter schools labs of innovation?
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are exempt from many of the rules that traditional public schools must follow. Charter schools aren’t subject to the school calendar law, only need to have half their teachers licensed, and aren’t required to provide school transportation or participate in the federal school lunch program.
The first charter schools in North Carolina opened in 1997. One of their stated purposes was to serve as “laboratories of innovation” that could be emulated in school districts.
There are now 211 charter schools statewide serving 161,507 students — more than 10% of the state’s entire public school population. Enrollment in charter schools is growing at the same time it’s falling in traditional public schools.
“The question is no longer are we going to have charter schools,” said Doug Lauen, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of Public Policy, which will conduct the research for the new lab. “It’s really like, we’ve got a lot of charter schools and how are we going to manage the growth and put them in the right place and give them the support that they need?”
The new lab got the support of the Charter Schools Review Board at its June 8 meeting. The Republican-controlled General Assembly transferred oversight of charter schools from the State Board of Education to the Review Board in 2023.
“I love these types of research projects,” said Eric Sanchez, a Review Board member. “I think they bring a light to a lot of things that we discuss and allow us to go from theory to tangible evidence about what’s working, what’s not.”
Corn said Thursday in an email to The News & Observer that the lab’s work will start in August with two studies:
- A “Maturity Study” that examines how long charter schools typically take to demonstrate academic effectiveness.
- An “Academic Comparability Study” that assesses whether current benchmarks for comparing charter and district school performance are valid and reliable.
What’s the impact of having licensed teachers?
Under the four-year partnership, Corn said, the plan is to do two to three studies a year on issues jointly identified by the Office of Charter Schools and the Research Lab.
One of the potential areas for study is staffing and teacher qualifications. Unlike traditional public schools, only 50% of a charter school’s teachers need to be licensed.
Some charter schools still only employ licensed teachers while others use the flexibility to fill their teaching ranks. A charter school could hire a mathematician to teach a math class.
“Is it the case that charters with more licensed teachers are more effective than charters with fewer licensed teachers?” Lauen said to the Review Board. “I think it’s an interesting question for folks in the charter school community and also outside the charter school community.”
Why do charters have fewer students with disabilities?
Another area the research lab has put on the table for potential study is what types of students are less likely to enroll in charter schools. Students with disabilities were one group singled out by researchers.
The latest Annual Charter Schools Report shows that students with disabilities account for 12% of the enrollment in charters. Students with disabilities make up to 15% of the enrollment in traditional public schools.
“There’s some concerns about whether there’s enough places for students with disabilities in charters,” Lauen said. “This has been a longtime question in charter school research. Is it the case that students with disabilities are less likely to enroll in charter schools in general or particular types of charter schools?”
Are virtual charters effective?
Another area the Review Board wants the lab to study is virtual charter schools. The Review Board has gotten multiple requests for new virtual charter schools as well as from existing brick-and-mortar charters to start remote charter academies.
Demand for virtual charter school seats has continued to grow even though they’ve academically had a poor track record. Leaders at virtual charters have cited how they’re educating students who didn’t do well in traditional schools for the low scores.
“I don’t think we can say strongly enough that we all believe the virtual environment, virtual education needs some analysis,” said Rita Haire, a Review Board member. “We have blind spots there and it just sort of continues to persist until there’s some action and the action needs to be databased. I know it’s complex, but it sounds like you’re the team to tackle that.”
Based on the investment the state is making in remote charters, Sanchez said they’ve “got to have something to understand whether or not this is something we should be really continuing to sink our teeth into.”
Virtual charters are something that could be studied. Corn told the N&O the Collaboratory intends to continue to work with the Review Board to identify research priorities over the life of the project.
