During the past few decades, Charter schools have been utilized as laboratories for educational innovation. Each year, more and more Charter schools open across the United States. These schools are governed the same way traditional public schools are, but there is research that suggests that inequalities exist in the representation and performance of students who attend Charter schools compared with those in traditional neighborhood schools. There are loose regulations surrounding the creation of Charter schools; therefore, every school district and state has its own methods of determining location, curriculum, promotion, transportation and consequently accessibility to these schools. Some research suggests that Charter schools contain fewer students in special student populations such as students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, English language learners, and students who are on an Individualized Education Plan. However, minimal research has been done on how these student populations perform academically in Charter schools versus traditional public schools. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in the population of special student populations in Charter versus traditional schools and how this group of students performs academically in Charter versus traditional schools. The results revealed that there is a significant difference in the number of special student populations who attend Denver Public Charter Schools. In addition, the ELL and FRL students who attend Denver Public Charter schools significantly outperformed their counterparts at non-Charter Denver Public schools on state assessments. [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.]