The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between academic achievement of secondary charter and traditional schools. Despite the national proliferation of charter schools, few people are studying the academic impact these schools are having with regard to state-mandated tests. Charter schools have been funded and politically supported in many states. Yet, researchers have to question the quality of a charter school education concerning the state-mandated standardized examinations. This study remedies the situation by comparing 10th grade charter school student scores to 10th grade traditional school scores on standardized tests. The three most common charter school formats: at-risk, online, and arts-infused were examined. In order to examine fully the generalization of the results, three theoretical frameworks were used. Through the use of multiple intelligences, constructivist, and theoretical approaches, a connection between curricular formats and standardized test scores could be established. Thus, the question posed for this study was whether there is a significant difference in students' academic achievement between charter schools and traditional schools in a large school district. Consequently, this study used a random, convenience sampling method to compared 476 traditional school students' state-mandated test scores with 29 arts-infused, 24 at-risk, and 24 online charter school students' test scores. Through MANOVA comparisons, the data showed a significant difference among the various charter schools and traditional schools. Through further ANOVA and post hoc tests, the null hypotheses were rejected. The results indicated that: (a) there is a difference between art-infused charter and traditional schools; (b) there is a difference between on-line charter and traditional schools; and (c) there is a difference between at-risk charter and traditional schools in regards to students' academic performances. The data suggests further examination is needed to explore what specific factors contribute to the differences between charter and traditional schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]