This paper focuses on student achievement in charter schools in Michigan. The analyses presented here suggest that students attending charter schools in Michigan are not reaching the same levels of achievement as students in traditional public schools in the same districts. The models control for student, building, and district characteristics. The results are robust to several different specifications. However, many caveats are in order.
Test scores are imperfect indicators of achievement.
Nevertheless, our analyses suggest that despite the fact that charter schools have the ability to introduce competition and new innovations in the provision of education, the evidence from this study implies that they will need to make up considerable ground as they become more established in order to overtake the test score levels and gains of students at traditional public schools.