THE IMPACT OF CHARTER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT ON CHILDREN'S SOCIO-EMOTIONAL OUTCOMES

Abstract

Now serving nearly 2 million children, charter schools are an oft cited solution to America's achievement gap. While ample research has attempted to disentangle the impacts of charter school enrollment on academic achievement, there has been a dearth of research examining the effect of charter school enrollment on social and emotional outcomes. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Kindergarten Cohort and a propensity matching technique, this paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature. Results suggest attending a charter school garners modest benefits as measured by internalizing and externalizing behavior, and perceived mathematics and peer competence. While this benefit is localized in more advantaged children for perceived mathematics competence, the remaining positive impacts are observed only in children who experienced early disadvantage, and are thus most likely to need socio-emotional support. These findings suggest that further exploration of the socio-emotional impacts of charter schools is warranted. Additionally, given the diversity of charter schools, mediators of these effects should be explored.