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CHARTER vs DISTRICT · MICHIGAN

Michigan charter schools, ranked

Every Michigan charter with a BeatsExpectations score, best to worst, against what its student demographics predict.

Charters ranked
60
with a BeatsExpectations score
Charter sector vs district
+5.2 pp
charters lead on average
Top charter
+31.4 pp
Pembroke Academy
MI CHARTER SCHOOLS RANKED BY BEATSEXPECTATIONS
SchoolCity% FRL% ProficientBeats (pp) ↓
Pembroke AcademyDETROIT84.6%60.2%31.4
Hamtramck AcademyHAMTRAMCK96.0%52.2%28.4
Chandler Woods Charter AcademyBELMONT35.9%78.6%28.2
Frontier International Academy ElementaryWARREN99.0%48.4%26
New Dawn Academy of WarrenSTERLING HTS90.6%50.3%24.2
Kensington Woods SchoolsLakeland36.0%73.6%23.2
Cross Creek Charter AcademyBYRON CENTER41.3%70.8%22.8
Byron Center Charter SchoolBYRON CENTER56.3%63.6%22.2
Vanderbilt Charter AcademyHOLLAND81.0%52.3%21.9
Plymouth Scholars Charter AcademyPLYMOUTH19.2%79.5%21.8
Noor International AcademySTERLING HEIGHTS59.7%61.5%21.7
Walden Green MontessoriSPRING LAKE25.5%74.4%19.4
South Arbor Charter AcademyYPSILANTI31.9%69.9%17.8
Vanguard Charter AcademyWYOMING59.0%57.9%17.7
Achieve Charter AcademyCANTON29.4%70.8%17.6
Waterford Montessori AcademyWATERFORD38.8%65.3%16.2
South Canton Scholars Charter AcademyCANTON46.8%61.7%16.2
AGBU AlexMarie Manoogian SchoolSOUTHFIELD54.9%58.0%16
Windemere Park Charter AcademyLANSING86.4%43.9%15.8
Excel Charter AcademyGRAND RAPIDS62.6%54.3%15.8
Ridge Park Charter AcademyGRAND RAPIDS91.3%41.2%15.4
Keystone AcademyBELLEVILLE53.1%57.2%14.4
Knapp Charter AcademyGRAND RAPIDS76.6%45.9%13.5
Holly Park AcademyLANSING91.2%38.6%12.8
Eagle Crest Charter AcademyHOLLAND65.4%48.9%11.6
Detroit Edison Public School AcademyDETROIT74.0%44.7%11.3
Burton Glen Charter AcademyBURTON94.5%35.6%11.2
Great Oaks AcademyWARREN90.8%37.1%11
Bridge Academy EastHAMTRAMCK100%32.7%10.8
Grand Rapids Child Discovery CenterGRAND RAPIDS29.3%63.8%10.5
Star International AcademyCANTON87.8%37.3%10
Old Mission Peninsula SchoolTRAVERSE CITY21.9%66.3%9.7
Walker Charter AcademyGRAND RAPIDS53.7%52.1%9.7
Canton Charter AcademyCANTON35.3%60.3%9.6
Legacy Charter AcademyDETROIT96.7%32.7%9.3
Holly AcademyHOLLY19.8%66.8%9.3
Linden Charter AcademyFLINT92.3%34.5%9.1
Caniff Liberty AcademyHAMTRAMCK95.6%32.9%9
Copper Island AcademyCalumet39.4%57.8%8.9
Island City AcademyEATON RAPIDS44.7%55.3%8.8
Paragon Charter AcademyJACKSON63.8%46.8%8.8
Metro Charter AcademyROMULUS69.4%44.1%8.5
Triumph AcademyMONROE61.3%47.1%7.9
Vista Charter AcademyGRAND RAPIDS93.4%32.7%7.8
Star International AcademyDEARBORN HEIGHTS93.1%32.8%7.8
Livingston Classical AcademyWHITMORE LAKE23.6%62.6%6.8
Hanley International AcademyHAMTRAMCK96.1%30.5%6.8
Chatfield SchoolLAPEER24.2%62.0%6.4
Detroit PrepDETROIT54.5%47.9%5.8
Will Carleton Charter School AcademyHILLSDALE30.1%57.9%5
Ivywood Classical AcademyPLYMOUTH15.5%64.2%4.7
Center Line Preparatory AcademyCENTER LINE89.5%31.1%4.5
Light of the World AcademyPINCKNEY30.6%56.9%4.2
Michigan Mathematics and Science Academy DequindreWARREN99.8%26.2%4.1
Woodland Park AcademyGRAND BLANC84.2%32.9%3.9
West MI Academy of Environmental ScienceGRAND RAPIDS46.5%49.5%3.9
Jackson Preparatory Early CollegeJACKSON29.6%57.0%3.8
Countryside Academy ElementaryBENTON HARBOR83.1%33.0%3.5
Renaissance Public School AcademyMOUNT PLEASANT58.9%43.6%3.4
Oakside Prep AcademyWATERFORD95.4%27.1%3.1
60 of 60 rows · Every scored charter in MI (top 60 by residual), best to worst. "Beats" is the percentage-point gap between a school's actual proficiency and what the per-state regression predicts from its FRL share. Sort ascending to see the state's weakest charters. Worst charter shown: Oakside Prep Academy (+3.1 pp).↓ Download charter-vs-district-by-state-mi.csv

What "Beats" means here

Ranking charter schools by raw proficiency mostly ranks them by the families they enroll. To compare a charter to the district schools it actually competes with, we use BeatsExpectations: a per-state regression of school proficiency on free-and-reduced-lunch share. It predicts the proficiency a school "should" post given its poverty profile, and the residual, in percentage points, is how far above or below that line the school actually lands. A charter at +15 is beating its demographics; one at -15 is trailing them. The table above ranks every scored Michigan charter on that residual. Sort ascending to see the weakest performers.

How Michigan charters compare to district schools

The headline stat is the charter sector's average residual minus the district sector's. A positive number means Michigan charters, on average, beat their demographics by more than the state's district schools do; a negative number means they trail. The national picture is genuinely mixed: charters beat district schools handily in some states (New York is the clearest case) and trail them badly in others (Ohio and Pennsylvania, where troubled cyber-charter sectors drag the average down). See the national report for every state side by side.

Limits

BeatsExpectations controls for poverty, but not for everything that separates charters from district schools: charters can have application and lottery processes, different special-education and English-learner shares, and different mid-year attrition. A high residual is strong evidence a school is doing something right, but it is not proof the same students would have done worse down the street. Treat this as the fairest single comparison available from public data, not a settled verdict on school choice.

Source data

NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (charter flag, FRL share, enrollment) and Michigan's native state assessment for the most recent available year. The BeatsExpectations regression is recomputed after every data refresh.

HOW TO CITE THIS REPORT

Anyone is welcome to cite or republish these findings. Please credit allk12.com and link back to this page so readers can verify the underlying data.

allk12 (2026). "Michigan charter schools, ranked by BeatsExpectations." Retrieved from https://allk12.com/reports/charter-vs-district/michigan
For interview requests or custom data pulls: [email protected]
DOWNLOAD THE DATA
↓ charter-vs-district-by-state-mi.csv
RELATED
Charter vs district by state · Best Michigan schools · Michigan test scores · All Michigan schools
DATA NOTICE

allk12 is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NCES, the US Census Bureau, any state education agency or assessment program, or any other government agency. Source data is compiled from public records and provided "as is," without warranty of accuracy or completeness. You rely on it, and any analysis derived from it, at your own risk. See the full disclaimer.