Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Hilda Shepeard

Abstract

Student performance data reporting between traditional public schools (TPS) and public charter schools (PCS) is not uniform and cannot easily be compared by enrolling parents. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if achievement scores of students in TPS and PCS can be used to uniformly compare student performance. The theoretical base for this study was contingency theory by Fiedler. The research question sought to answer if academic outcomes in TPS were statistically significantly different from PCS in English/ Language Arts for Elementary school students. This descriptive study used English/ Language Arts performance scores based on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers data from District of Columbia Public Schools, District of Columbia Public charter schools, the Urban Institute, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education using ordinal logistic regression to examine 53 TPS and 10 PCS located in Washington, D.C. with grade spans of PreK3 through 5th grade. The data showed that school type does not have a significant impact on Grade 3 student performance indicators and student enrollment decision. However, school type does have a significant impact in Grades 4 and 5 and is therefore an indicator for student performance and student enrollment decision. The positive social change implications for this study are for school district leaders to identify and increase support for uniformity and transparency of reported performance data to ensure parents have the necessary information to make informed decisions when evaluating and enrolling their child in either school system.

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