NY Times Publishes Article Critical of Charter Schools

Like last summer's Harvard study on segregation in charters, once the facts are studied the picture becomes quite different than how it's portrayed in the media

Many people have asked me for my reaction to the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) study on charter schools that showed traditional public schools outperforming charters.  My first reaction is to note that even if the NAEP study has any veracity, charter underpreformance is not the case here in RI!  Thankfully, the Center for Education Reform has been proactive and has published policy briefs that can guide our conversations with parents and other stakeholders.  Additionally, the League's website contains a comparative study of Providence charters vs. their district peers that I completed last spring.  In every assessment, in every grade, the charters scored higher than district schools.

For your information, please find below the link to the League's 2004 study of this issue, CER's policy brief and the US Dept. of Education's response to the NAEP study.  Hopefully, these resources will help to formulate some "talking points" for you.

RI League of Charter Schools data collection, spring 2004

The Center for Education Reform

CER Newswire
Vol. 6, No. 32
August 17, 2004

CHARTER SCHOOLS PRODUCE STRONG STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Comprehensive data discounts New York Times account; reveals charter schools performing at or above traditional schools

(Washington, DC) Charter schools are helping thousands of low-income and challenged students across the country succeed, despite headlines that appeared in newspapers across the country this morning.    The New York Times caused a flurry of media activity when it used a single sample from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to inaccurately portray charter performance (NAEP tested less than 1 percent of charter students in 7 states).

Although NAEP provides valuable information, it is necessary to combine that information with more comprehensive data to accurately assess school performance. Such data does exist and clearly demonstrates that charter schools are succeeding at promoting high student achievement among their students.

NAEP data shows that charter achievement is significant:

* Fourth grade students in Arizona, California and Colorado charter schools outperform their traditional public school counterparts in their states in reading.   Note that one third of all charter schools operate in California and Arizona.

* Eighth grade charter students in Washington, D.C. and California outscored all other public schools in their states in reading.

* Eighth graders in Colorado and Delaware charters schools outperformed 8th graders at all other public schools nationally in both reading and math.

* In California , charter schools produce stronger student achievement among low-income students than traditional public schools by a margin of nearly 5 percent.

* Wisconsin's charter schools are doing better than traditional schools based on the results of state tests in 4th and 8th grade for two academic years (this information was announced this week by Dr. John Witte, University of Wisconsin at Madison).

* In Michigan , charters showed greater gains than the statewide average in all but one of 10 grades and subjects on the 2003 MEAP test.

* Sixty percent of urban charter schools in Massachusetts outperformed comparable traditional schools on the 2003 MCAS exams.

* National survey data finds that charter schools serve a disproportionate share of children least prepared and most behind.  Over half of charters serve populations where over 40 percent of their students are considered at-risk or previously dropped out.  For example, the majority of Texas charter schools serve a significantly greater percentage of minority and low-income students – and many of these students have dropped out of traditional public schools.

* A majority of all charter schools serve a minority population of over 41 percent or above.

* According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES 1999-2000), 27.3 percent of the students in charter schools were African American – compared to 16.9 percent in traditional public schools; 20.8 percent were of Hispanic origin – 14.9 percent in traditional ones; and 2.3 percent were Native Americans – against 1.2 percent found in traditional ones.

* Unlike traditional schools, charter schools not meeting the needs of their students may be shut down.  As of January 2004, 311 charter schools have closed, representing 9 percent of all charters ever opened.

* The primary source of data for The New York Times was the American Federation of Teachers, whose criteria for support of charter schools matches less than 1 percent of those currently in operation.

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Disseminated by the Office of Innovation and Improvement-Charter Schools Program

U.S. Department of Education
Office of Public Affairs, News Branch
400 Maryland Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202

FOR RELEASE
August 17, 2004
Contact: Susan Aspey
(202) 401-1576

PAIGE ISSUES STATEMENT REGARDING NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ON CHARTER SCHOOLS

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige issued the following statement regarding today's New York Times article on charter schools:

“The New York Times' front-page 'analysis' of charter schools used faulty methodology to come up with a flawed conclusion. In other words, it was wrong.

“The Times made no distinction between students falling behind and students climbing out of the hole in which they found themselves. The Times grudgingly conceded that 'tracking students over time might present findings more favorable' to charter schools--but that point was buried at the end of the story.

“Another point: it is wrong to think of charter schools as a monolith. There are schools for dropouts, schools for students who've been expelled, schools serving the most economically disadvantaged families. Charters are as diverse as the children they educate. In fact, according to the authors of the data the Times cites, differences between charter and regular public schools in achievement test scores vanish when examined by race or ethnicity. It is virtually impossible to come up with a statistically significant result otherwise.

“The purpose of charter schools is to provide an alternative to parents and students who have been poorly served by their previous schools. Poor instruction, unsafe conditions, a lack of proper attention--these are all factors in a parent's decision to apply to a charter school. The thousands of names on waiting lists to attend charter schools attest to the need for these vital educational options.”