Charter school students are making greater strides in reading than kids in traditional public school classrooms, according to a new Stanford University study that assessed 1.5 million children in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Hawaii data were not included in the report. 

The results show improvement from performance in 2009, when a report on 16 states showed that charter schools taught seven fewer days and 22 fewer days of learning in reading and math, respectively, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek article. Charter school students perform on par with public students on math, the 2013 study also shows.

The 2013 Stanford Center for Research on Education Outcomes report reveals several noteworthy trends, including that marginalized students — namely poor and/or black students and children who speak English as a second language — perform better in charters than in traditional classrooms. 

The new data would in part suggest that, despite widespread criticisms, charters can be a successful alternative to the country’s beleaguered public schools. But some critics of the report say the data show only modest gains at best and lack evidence that charter schools are really improving student learning as a whole. 

Charter schools are privately run public schools that design their own curricula and often employ teachers who are not tied to public school teachers’ union contracts. 

Businessweek outlines several additional points, including the following:

• Not all charter schools are faring well. A 2012 National Association of Charter School Authorizers report suggests that as many as one in five charter schools should be shut down because of poor academic performance.
• Because charter schools typically don’t contract with teachers’ unions, they often have longer school days.
• Low-income black and Hispanic students in charter schools performed above-average in math. Asian students performed more poorly. 
• The report revealed large discrepancies among charter schools in different states. Rhode Island’s charters showed some of the largest gains, as did D.C.’s and New York City’s charter schools.

Students giving a science presentation at local Hawaiian-focused charter school Hālau Kū Māna. Many of Hawaii’s charter schools focus on Native Hawaiian teaching methodology and values.

— Alia Wong