New study finds low-income students in 10 major cities with charter schools are catching up

A graphic from the Progressive Policy Institute shows student performance and percentages of students in public charter schools over time. 

A new study from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) indicates that low-income students in both public charter schools and traditional public schools in 10 major cities are catching up to statewide performance levels.

The study, titled “Searching for the Tipping Point: Scaling Up Public School Choice Spurs Citywide Gains,” said that in cities serving majority low-income students with at least one-third enrolled in charter schools, low-income students citywide have made meaningful progress toward achieving on par with students statewide. The analysis examined student math and reading scores between 2010-2011 and 2022-2023 in grades 3-8 in Camden, New Jersey; Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Washington, D.C.; Detroit, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dayton, Ohio; Newark, New Jersey; and St. Paul, Minnesota.

According to the study, that progress is particularly notable when at least one-third of a city’s students are enrolled in a public charter school or charter-like school, adding that “outcomes improve citywide over time.”

In addition to these findings, the report cited research from Stanford University that found that 6,200 charter schools in 29 states outperformed their peers in demographically-matched traditional public schools between 2014 and 2019. Another 2024 study from the education think tank Thomas B. Fordham Institute found that “average test scores for all publicly enrolled students in a geographic region rise when the number of charter schools increases.”

“There have also been studies that find a ‘spillover effect.’ In other words, when a system has a mix of different types of public schools, including public charter schools, student learning increases for everyone,” the PPI report said, adding that low-income and non-white parents nationally are often the most enthusiastic charter school supporters.

The PPI report said the performance results it compiled “add credence to the long-stated supposition that public charter schools create a competitive dynamic that compels traditional district schools to upgrade their teaching and learning to maintain enrollment, so that conditions improve for all children.”

It said that as charter schools uncover better ways of motivating students, nearby schools can adopt those teaching practices. What’s more, the report suggested that an increase in school options make it easier and more common for parents to “find a school that is the optimum fit for unlocking their child’s potential.”

“While more research on these theories is required, the existing evidence of positive spillover effects bolsters the case for making public school choice a key element of a national policy. We call on the nation’s elected leaders to embrace policies aimed at expanding high-quality autonomous schools so that more cities can strive for the gains we describe here,” the report said.

The PPI report made several policy recommendations for education leaders moving forward with some of those findings in mind, such as adopting policies to further strengthen public charter schools. It said that this could include advocacy for measures to narrow existing district−charter school funding gaps, removing enrollment caps, and lengthening high performing charter school’s contracts and renewal periods.

In addition, the report added, district schools and charter schools should increase their collaboration so that “traditional districts can discover charter school attributes to embrace.”

The report said education leaders can also encourage the formation of organizations that can incubate strong charters and innovation schools, such as The Mind Trust in Indianapolis.

“These organizations can be invaluable resources, not only for the schools they help create and the leaders they train to lead them; they can also serve as a resource for all types struggling local schools. Additionally, they are ambassadors for school reform,” the report said. “They can play an important role in bringing awareness to the community about challenges and potential solutions for improving the quality of schools, and helping to get stakeholder buy in.”