Charter School Effect on Student Academic Achievement: A Propensity Score Matching Approach With Multilevel Data

• In Event: Roundtable Session 50
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Differences in Charter School Outcomes

Abstract

There have been contentious debates on whether there is a negative charter school effect on student academic achievement. Many prior studies failed to address self-selection bias and low external validity when estimating such effect. To address such limitations, we examine charter school effect using a propensity score matching (PSM) approach in multilevel setting. Drawing data from Florida Department of Education, this proposed study investigates whether attending charter schools has a negative impact on student academic achievement for students who transferred from traditional public schools (TPSs) to charter schools in Florida.

Authors

• Wei Xu, University of Florida

• M. David Miller, University of Florida

• Nancy Thornqvist, University of Florida