ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 examined various claims about the potential of charter schools. Now we review research evidence on charter schools to see if these claims can be substantiated. As mentioned previously, many policy leaders have concluded that charter schools are a success. And in this sense, charter schools, like voucher plans, have achieved a political victory. In contrast, the educational evidence presented in this chapter leads to a different conclusion. Despite their growing popularity, charter schools have produced no convincing data to illustrate that, on the whole, they are prudent or productive investments. However, as we show in chapter 7, some individual programs (at an anecdotal level) represent potential contributions.
