ABSTRACT
The emerging picture of charter schools in the United States indicates that, overall, students enrolled in charter schools are performing no better on standardized achievement tests than students in traditional public schools. Indeed, studies have shown that in some grades and subjects their performance appears to be worse. This chapter begins with an overview of Idaho charter schools. In several respects Idaho's experience is at odds with findings from other states. Charter schools in Idaho tend to attract students who have been performing above average in traditional public schools. Finally, the analytical method preferred in the literature—a longitudinal analysis comparing gains of individual students before and after their enrollment in a charter school—shows that charter schools at the elementary level have been more effective than traditional public schools in promoting mathematics achievement. However, a simple cross-sectional comparison of gains in the experience of Idaho and other states sectors indicates the opposite.
