Charters as Counter Publics: Addressing the Civic Side of Charter Schooling

Abstract

Charter schools continue to expand, particularly in urban communities. To critique the civic side of charter schools, we applied Wilson’s counter-public framework from a macro level to analyze the 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)- Civics results. We employed a multilevel regression model to ascertain whether Black and Hispanic charter students outperformed their peers in private and traditional public schools. Variables included civic scores and key factors associated with civic learning such as teacher qualifications and instructional time spent on civics. Results indicated significant differences in civics learning outcomes between races, with White students outperforming both Black and Hispanic students regardless of school type (Charter, private, and traditional public schools). Black and Hispanic students enrolled in private schools marginally outperformed their racial/ethnic peers enrolled in traditional public schools, but these averages were not significant. Lastly, the findings indicated that teachers’ civics instructional time influenced students’ performance, though no significant difference exists in civic scores based on the teacher’s highest degree. Based on the findings of the study, we recommend further study to ascertain the full potential of charter schools due to their distinct composition.