Do public charter schools underperform compared to traditional public schools?

[2016 Charter Myth Document]

Overall, 66.7% of public charter school students were deemed proficient (Level 3, 4 or 5) according to their end-of-grade assessments compared to 56% of their district-run counterparts. Diving deeper, public charter school students pass 19% more of their tests than public traditional school students. With the criteria for Career/College Level (EOG scores of 4 or 5), public charter students pass 22% more of their tests than traditional public school students.  

Additionally, North Carolina’s public charter schools outperform traditional public schools in the areas of:

  • Student graduation rates
  • AMO targets (subgroups)
  • Academic proficiency
  • ACT percentages
  • 11% of public charter schools received an A on the report card (compared to 5% of traditional schools)
  • 29% of public charter schools received a B on their report card (compared to 23% of traditional schools)

 

Charter School Performance
Grades

 

Charter School Student Performance
ACT

(graduation rates)

Subgroup

Denominator Percent
All Students 120079 86.3
Male 61374 83.2
Female 58705 89.6
American Indian 1641 84.4
Asian 3404 93.4
Black 31747 83.2
Hispanic 17504 79.9
Two or More Races 4356 84.1
White 61271 89.6
Economically Disadvantaged 43880 80.3
English Learner 6835 68.4
Students With Disabilities 14818 69.1
Academically Gifted 19739 >95

https://nccppr.org/charter-schools-in-north-carolina-an-overview/

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/reporting/

https://www.slideshare.net/educationnc/attachmentaspx-5?ref=https://www.ednc.org/2019/01/21/school-choice-continues-to-thrive-in-north-carolina/

2017-18 Figures:

Overall, 57% of public charter schools were above 60% Grade Level Proficient (Level 3, 4 or 5), compared to 44% of their district-run counterparts. 35% of public charter schools were deemed Career/College Level compared to 22% of traditional public schools, according to the criteria for Career/College Level (60% of students have EOG scores of 4 or 5)

  • 8.7% of public charter schools received an A on the report card (compared to 6.9% of traditional schools)
  • 31.8% of public charter schools received a B on their report card (compared to 26.8% of traditional schools)
  • The number and percentage of charter schools earning Ds and Fs decreased for the fifth consecutive year
  • The number of charter schools exceeding growth increased from 36 in 2016-17 to 46 in 2017-18, a 27.2% increase (compared to 26.7% of traditional schools)