Every single student in that lottery had to be entered by a parent concerned about their education. That already presents a selection bias that will deliver better testing results than the entire student population.

My recollection from Freakonomics is they found that the children who lose the lottery still do as well as those who get in. The differentiating factor seems to be parents who care enough to enter the lottery in the first place.

Their research was based on magnet schools in Chicago in the nineties. I don't know how well that model correlates with Success Academy.

It's I believe the Hawtorne Effect I believe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

I don't believe that applies in the Chicago study because they just looked at data retrospectively. There were no observers when the events were taking place.

And every single student who want to go to the public school in Tribecca have to have an address there to be zoned for it. If you want to talk about selection bias thats your case not a lottery.

Plenty of kids in Harlem goes to Success Academy. Most of the kids in Williamsburg comes from fairly low-income families. That was the very premise of the school and why it's popular.

Watch the documentary The Lottery on Netflix it's quite illuminating.

> The reason why charter schools like Success Academy are popular is because it's strong focus and philosophy.

Which from today's NYT at http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/nyregion/at-a-success-a... apparently includes pushing out any students.

That is, says Brown, principal at Success Academy Fort Greene: "Some of them needed an alternative setting with highly specialized services".

You know where those (expensive) 'highly specialized' services are? Public schools.

After 19 suspensions, this both with ADHD now attends "Public School 119 in Brooklyn, where Ms. Wimbish said he was very happy and had not been suspended once."

Is it really the parents to blame? Or a 'one size fits all' discipline model that just happens to select for the easier, most compliant children?

FFS! Did Success Academy really release the records of a 10 year old student, in all likelihood in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, just because that student and his mother were the only ones willing to voice their complaints about the on camera?