Long-Term Outcomes of Charter Schooling

A number of studies have found that charter school models can produce improvements in math and reading test scores and increase college entry, but do not answer the question of whether charter schools improve long-term outcomes (i.e., college attendance, wages after college, home ownership, etc.). This project seeks to answer this question by linking admissions lottery information to college data and, through a collaboration with Opportunity Insights, to tax information. ​

The project has successfully collected lottery information on approximately 400,000 charter school applicants through agreements with 15 CMOs across the country. As the study sample ages, the research team will eventually be able to study impacts on earnings, college graduation, teen motherhood, family formation, and home ownership. We believe this will be the largest charter lottery study ever conducted.

Project Status: Current
Focus Area:  School Improvement and Redesign
Location: National
Principal Investigators: David Deming, Thomas Kane,  Raj Chetty, and John Friedman
Partners: Equality of Opportunity Project