Many charter schools in the United States have been closed for inadequate student performance on test scores despite data that indicated test scores had improved. Determining charter school performance was difficult for authorizing agencies because charter school performance was often compared to their traditional public school counterparts. Charter school authorizers have not developed a systematic approach to measure student performance in a way that acknowledges the unique nature of charter schools.

Using a correlation design, the study detected associations between variables about student performance on the North Carolina End of Grade Test (EOG) and the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measurement of Academic Progress (NEWEA) from two urban charter schools in eastern North Carolina. Student data from 2007-2009 was used, and 379 student records were included. Variables under study included gender, grade level performance, socioeconomic status, and student tenure. Inferential statistics were used to draw conclusions from the sample tested. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19 was used to code and tabulate scores and provide summarized values where applicable. Descriptive statistics including frequency counts and percent statistics were computed for the demographic variables.

Results indicated that current accountability testing did not measure student performance accurately. Recommendations stemming from the results include the use of a combined assessment for charter schools that would include the use of the mandated assessment instrument in combination with an additional assessment that is capable of gauging academic growth over the course of a school year to provide a more holistic perspective on student academic performance in charter schools.