Does Charter School Mission Affect Survival and Growth? An Addendum to White and Huang’s Census of Charter School Foci and Models 1

ABSTRACT In the prior article, White and Huangoffer the most developed work extant categorizing charter school foci, to encourage further research regarding charter school effectiveness. In this research note, we test whether having a focus affects school survival and growth. Recognizing Arizona as an early adapter of charter schooling, we analyze whether the reported founding missions (foci) of the state’s first two charter cohorts opening in 1995–96 (n = 54) affected long-term survival and growth. We found charter schools with defined missions were more likely to survive and to grow more quickly, with findings attaining statistical significance despite the small n of cases.