Civic Performance Outcomes and Market Morality: Using NAEP to Address the Civic Efficacy of Charter Schools.

This article examines whether charter schools improve civic learning outcomes for eighth-grade students, particularly Black and Hispanic youth, by analyzing the 2014 and 2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Civics Grade 8 results. Using a multilevel regression model and guided by the Octagon Model framework, the study finds that charter schools perform comparably to traditional public schools in fostering civic knowledge and skills, with no significant advantage linked to teacher credentials or time spent on civics instruction. Private schools consistently show higher civic performance scores than both charter and traditional public schools, especially for Black students. These findings suggest that while charter schools serve underserved communities with innovative approaches, their impact on civic competence is not superior to traditional public schools, highlighting the need for further research into factors influencing effective civic education across school types and demographic groups.