The Effects of Charter High Schools on Academic Achievement and College Enrollment: Evidence from Los Angeles

Sarah J. Reber (), Dennis Rünger () and Mitchell D. Wong ()
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Sarah J. Reber: The Brookings Institution Washington, DC 22036 and National Bureau of Economic Research Cambridge, MA 02138
Dennis Rünger: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90095
Mitchell D. Wong: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90095

Education Finance and Policy, 2024, vol. 19, issue 4, 567-585

Abstract: This paper estimates the causal effects of enrollment in one of five oversubscribed high-quality Los Angeles charter schools using a lottery design. Enrolling in a charter school increased eleventh-grade standardized test scores and enrollment and persistence in four-year colleges substantially, but had no effect on high school GPA. Charter students took more advanced coursework, were less likely to skip class, were more likely to apply to a four-year college, and reported more teacher support for college-going. The increase in four-year persistence appears to be driven by more enrollment and persistence in University of California campuses, which have higher graduation rates than the likely alternatives. This suggests that the effects of charter schools could depend on the availability of high graduation rate colleges.

Date: 2024
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