11378 (2024). Hon Jan Tinetti to the Associate Minister of Education

11378 (2024). Hon Jan Tinetti to the Associate Minister of Education: What evidence, if any, does the Associate Minister have to suggest that introducing charter schools will lift declining educational outcomes?

Hon David Seymour: International evidence shows that charter schools can have positive educational outcomes. For example, a 2023 study by the Centre for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that United States charter schools produced positive learning outcomes for students when compared to public schools, and that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds experience greater outcomes. This study also found that 36 percent of students perform better in both reading and maths. Students in United States charter school students also gain an average of 16 more days of learning in reading and six more days in maths in a school year compared to their matched peers in traditional public schools. In England, research on academies primarily focusses on the free school model (academy schools established to meet need in an area). A 2021 report found that Year 10 and 11 students in free schools outperformed their public-school peers. A 2022 United Kingdom government white paper stated that more than seven out of 10 academies that were underperforming as council-run schools gained a good or outstanding rating after converting to academy schools.