Students in charter schools in Massachusetts outperformed their regular public school counterparts in reading and mathematics in the state, and students in Boston charter schools experienced significantly higher learning gains in reading and math than students in the city’s regular public schools, says a new study from Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, or CREDO.
Compared with the academic progress that students made in regular public schools, the study found, students in Massachusetts’ charter schools gained an additional 1½ months of learning per year in reading and an additional 2½ months of learning per year in math. In Boston, the academic edge gained by charter students over students in regular public schools amounted to a full year more in reading and 13 months more in math.
Part of a series of state and city studies comparing charter and noncharter students, the study examines performance data for grades 3-8 and 10.