Instructional Conditions in Charter Schools Instructional Conditions in Charter Schools and Students’ Mathematics Achievement Gains Mark Berends UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME Ellen Goldring Marc Stein Xiu Cravens VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Abstract Because charter school research on student achievement is mixed, many researchers and policymakers advocate looking inside the black box of schools to better understand the conditions under which schools of choice may be effective. We begin to address this issue with data from charter and a comparison group of traditional public schools; we also conduct propensity score matching at the student level to further understand achievement gains. In our analyses of these data, we find no charter school effects on students’ achievement gains. Instructional conditions, such as teachers’ focus on academic achievement, are related to mathematics gains. However, we find that our innovation measure is negatively associated with gains (controlling for other conditions) suggesting that innovation for innovation’s sake should not be the sole focus of schools, whether charter or not. Biographies Mark Berends is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame, where he directs the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity and the National Center on School Choice. His research focuses on how school organization and classroom instruction are related to student achievement, with special attention to disadvantaged students. Ellen Goldring is Patricia and Rodes Hart Chair and Professor of Education Policy and Leadership at Vanderbilt University, Peabody College, where she serves as Chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations. Her areas of expertise are on school improvement, educational leadership, school choice, and parent involvement. Marc Stein is an Assistant Professor of Education at Johns Hopkins University. His research interests include quantitative analyses of the social contexts surrounding schools and schooling and the role that these contexts play in the enactment of educational policy, with special emphasis on racial-ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities. Xiu Cravens is the Assistant Dean of International Affairs and Research Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University, Peabody College. Her research interests focus on the analysis of educational reform policies that are particularly related to the organizational and cultural contexts of schools in the United States and other countries. Please direct all correspondence to Mark Berends, University of Notre Dame, 1014 Flanner Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (mberends@nd.edu ). American Journal of Education 116 (May 2010) ©2010 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0195-6744/2010/11603-XX$10.00