Understanding Charter School Evaluation: A Synthesis of the Literature on CREDO’s VCR Method for Stakeholders

Abstract

Increased charter school demand creates a critical need for reliable information on outcomes. Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) has a series of influential reports on charter schools using the virtual control record (VCR) method. However, the VCR method has been criticized and the validity of CREDO’s findings challenged, leading to confusion among stakeholders. In this paper, we synthesize charter school evaluation literature, explain CREDO’s methods as well as other evaluation methods, and consider the limitations of matching in this context. We find that, while the matching techniques are imperfect, they provide necessary information on the greatest percentage of charter school students.