Charter Schools, Enrollment Size, and Educational Accountability: A Preliminary Arizona Analysis

Many policy analysts favor holding deficient public schools accountable: Either they should improve or else close. Hypotheses are developed which explore how school type (district, charter) and enrollment size influence these two accountability outcomes for deficient Arizona elementary campuses operating under two educational oversight regimes: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Arizona Leading Education through the Accountability and Results Notification System (AZLearns), a state system. Arizona data for 2003-2009 are then used to preliminarily test these hypotheses. Differing student demographics hamper a clear comparison when determining which school type best promotes school improvement, but charters appear to have a clear advantage with respect to closing.