Describing Rural Charter Schools in the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ample research has explored the nature and efficacy of urban charter schools since the turn of the century. However, much less attention has been given to the rural charter school sector. Using data obtained from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools from the 2018–2019 school year, we describe rural charter schools nationally in terms of the students they serve, school-level characteristics, and how innovative they are in their curricula, pedagogical foci, and the student populations they enroll. We then compare states in terms of the statewide policies that have been enacted. Compared to their rural traditional public school counterparts, rural charters enroll more nonwhite students and fewer students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Almost half of all rural charters are located in five states, and rural charters are more likely to have non-traditional grade configurations compared to schools in other geographic settings. Most rural charter schools are not affiliated with a CMO or EMO. Hawaii has the largest market share of rural charter school students and also has the greatest proportion of its charter schools located in rural areas. States that do not place caps on the number of charter schools that open were found to have more of their charter schools located in rural areas.