Rhode
Island Charter Schools Standardized Test Performance
MEMO
To: Charter School Colleagues
From: Robert Pilkington
Re: Charter school standardized test performance
Date: February 26, 2004
Today's Journal Bulletin article regarding charter funding
contained an assertion that "charters have not
accomplished what they set out to do" and have
not shown progress on state assessments.
In order to rebut this assertion, I have examined the
district and school report cards and performance rankings
as published on the RIDE InfoWorks! website and have
drawn district to school performance comparisons.
Please find accompanying this document an Excel
spreadsheet representing an analysis of the 2003 InfoWorks!
New Standards test scores. On that spreadsheet,
the Providence District is compared to the four charters
presently open in Providence.
I chose Providence due to three factors:
1. Of the 1,718 students in RI charter schools, 1,038
(or 60%) are from Providence
2. The four Providence charter schools are the oldest
and most established schools, therefore the data is
the most complete
3. By choosing one district, like Providence, a snapshot
of the comparative performance could be quickly taken
Subcategories of ethnicity, gender and SES were also
tabulated. It is important to remember that in the cases
of Times2 and Textron/Chamber, their high performance
ratings are represented in the district rating and help
to bolster the district percentages. Strangely, in the
case of Textron and Times2, their district affiliation
actually inflates the district number. This, combined
with the inclusion of Classical High School into the
district percentages, makes the District to Charter
comparison even more telling.
The percentages represented on the spreadsheet represent
the numbers of students meeting or exceeding the standard.
When the performance of the District vs. the Charters
is examined, in every case except 10th grade math, charters
outperform their district peers. The difference in 10th
grade math is less than one percentage point.
Providence charters also have met a higher percentage
of their targets than the District. While district schools
meet their targets 70% of the time, charters meet their
targets 98% of the time.
The limitations of this comparative
analysis are clear.
- Due to the way schools grow
and the three data points (4th, 8th, and 10th) there
is incomplete information in some categories.
- District "boutique"
schools such as The Academy of International Studies,
Feinstein HS, The Mall School or the Health and Science
Academy are included in the district percentages.
Often charter opponents deride charters as "boutiques"
but fail to recognize "boutiques" within
their own districts. Additionally, schools with gifted
programs (such as Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther
King and N. Greene Middle School) are factored into
the district percentages. Also, Classical HS (a district
choice option geared at high performing students)
is represented in the districts' 10th grade percentages.
- The presence of Textron and
Times2 in the larger district numbers actually inflates
the district percentages that they are being compared
against.
- There is no comparison of value
added scoring or any SALT data such as parental engagement,
school safety, feelings of teacher efficacy, lack
of teacher burnout or student attendance rates. If
this data were factored into the picture, the performance
of charters when compared to district peers would
be "off the charts."
Here
is a summary of the data found on the accompanying
spreadsheet:
- In ELA at the 4th grade
level, charters score 12.2 percent higher than the
district
- In Math at the 4th grade level,
charters score 7.35 percent higher than the district
- In ELA at the 8th grade level,
charters score 13 percent higher than the district
- In Math at the 8th grade level,
charters score 1.2 percent higher than the district
- In ELA at the 10th grade level,
charters score 3.75 percent higher than the district
- In Math at the 10th grade level,
charters score .65 percent less than the district
- When subgroups are disaggregated,
charters have a higher percentage of African Americans,
Hispanics and economically challenged youth meeting
or exceeding the standard in ELA and Math than the
district.
While a larger
more comprehensive statewide study may or may not yield
similar results, the trend in Providence is clear: Charter
Schools in Providence are outperforming their district
peers. |
