This paper examines the charter school authorizing process using student-level data from Ohio, a state with a range of public and private authorizers. The study found charters authorized by nonprofits are less effective in promoting student achievement than other charter schools (though there...

This paper uses individual student-level data from Ohio–which permits a wide range of organizations to authorize charter schools—to examine the relationship between type of authorizer and charter-school effectiveness, as measured by students’ achievement trajectories.