A Measurement of Charter School Efficiency in North Carolina Utilizing Modified Quadriform Analysis

Charter schools exist under the umbrella of public education, but are not subject to the same level of public oversight or accountability measures as traditional public schools in North Carolina and many other states (BiFulco and Ladd, 2006, Bettinger, 2004). There is a lack of easily accessible efficiency data on charter schools. The primary aim of this study was to establish if the modified quadriform analysis could be used to assess charter school efficiency. Second, the study sought to assess relative efficiency within the population of charter schools in North Carolina, and to establish their rankings in context with one another, so that alterable school characteristics could be analyzed to see which contribute most to efficiency. The study employed the modified quadriform analysis (MQA), which is based upon plotting the residual data from a multiple variable regression of input and output variables, and then categorizing the graphed data based upon the input/output relationship. The study concluded that the MQA is a viable means for assessing charter school efficiency, and that efficient charter schools in North Carolina are correlated with higher pupil-teacher ratios, higher numbers of guidance counselors, and higher measures of community wealth.