Is There Empirical Evidence That Charter Schools “Push Out” Low-Performing Students?

Abstract

A major concern among opponents to charter schools is whether these schools will serve all students. Some have raised concerns that charter schools will “push out” low-achieving students in hopes of improving the schools’ academic profile while minimizing costs by educating fewer challenging students. In this article, we use data from an anonymous major urban school district to examine whether we see exit patterns consistent with the claim that charter schools are more likely to push out low-achieving students than are traditional public schools (TPSs). Overall, we find no empirical evidence to support the notion of push-out.