Eduwonk said to go look at the Rand Corporation report on Chicago charter schools. The Edwonkster said it was “important” and had “flown below the radar.” I hate when important things fly below the radar, so I went and looked.

On skimming:

Do charter schools “skim thecream,” serving students who had above-average achievement levels prior to entering charters?
We found that, on average, the prior achievement levels of students transferring to charter
schools differ only slightly from the citywide average and from the achievement levels of peers
in the district-managed CPS schools they exited.

I think that means that they say charters don’t skim.

On racial stratification:

(Do) charter schools exacerbate or ameliorate racial stratification? We examined how transfers affect the racial and ethnic mix of the charter schools and the traditional public schools (TPSs) that the students exited.

We found that transferring students are moving to schools with similar or slightly lower proportions of other students of the same race and ethnicity.

In sum, transfers from TPSs to charter schools in Chicago do not increase racial stratification
across the schools.

So, in one of the most racially segregated school districts in the United States, Rand says charters don’t make it better or worse. Hooray.

Achievement levels:

For students who have attended charter schools and district operated CPS schools, we observed whether their annual achievement gains were greater in the charter setting or the CPS setting. Consistent with similar studies in other locations, we found only small differences in average achievement gains between charter schools and CPS schools, and these differences do not point in consistent directions. The only strong finding regarding achievement is that charter schools do not do well in raising student achievement in their first year of operation.

So, no difference in achievement levels, except in the first year of operation when they are worse at charters.

Where there was particular evidence of increased achievement levels at charter high schools, such as ACT scores, graduation rates and college attendance, the report noted:

We cannot be sure whether these positive effects are attributable to charter status or to
the unconventional grade configurations that eliminate the change of schools between eighth
and ninth grade.

Wow. Talk about your “important, flying under the radar” reports. I’m amazed this didn’t make it to the front page of the Trib.