Chewing on charter studies

Yet another report &#151 this one by the federal government &#151 finds students at the privately-managed publicly-funded schools typically performing less well than their peers elsewhere, though in some subjects the difference is hardly worth reporting. Most research finds kids perform worse than in public schools. But it also finds parents typically happier with the schools. (I should add, if you’re an insider who cares about what exactly this study says/means from a policy perspective, there’s a good discussion at

Why the disconnect? It partly speaks to parents wanting results that aren’t found on tests. A few thoughts:

1. Charter schools have done a wonderful job finding niches where public schools don’t serve kids well &#151 credit recovery for dropouts, for example.

2. As a sweeping generalization, my experience of charter schools is that they tend to be much more welcoming than many public schools, and why many public schools don’t put forward a friendlier face is a mystery to me. Sadly, this tends to be most true in schools where parents don’t demand a more positive attitude, but that doesn’t mean some parents aren’t hightailing it for the nearest charter school.

Student performance at charter schools varies widely, and it isn’t fair to lump all charter schools together. Locally, the KIPP Aspire Academy is a standout on test scores, and working with low-income children saw huge jumps in performance in a single year.

Other charter operators hate the fact that everyone points to KIPP as a shining example. Here’s why: though they serve low-income kids, they serve families who are willing to make a commitment to much longer school hours and classes in the summer. That’s not your typical kid. Many charters were designed to help the kid who falls behind or is struggling.

Still, parents need to be savvy consumers. My biggest fear about San Antonio charters is the quality of the teaching. While charter schools may attract innovative, excited teachers, most are less experienced than their peers at regular public schools. And if they aren’t surrounded by great teachers they can learn from, or top-notch administrators, other factors like class size or the kid’s grades may not matter.

I spoke with a parent of a child at a charter school the other night who told me her child had gone from passing the TAKS two years in a row with just a few questions wrong, to failing it three times in his first year at a local charter school. Test scores aren’t everything, but if a child’s scores slip that dramatically from one year to the next, it’s time to demand answers. If it were my child, I would start by going to the Texas Education Agency’s AEIS reports and searching on my school’s name, then scrolling down to see the average years of experience for its teachers. If that number were fewer than five, I’d be concerned.

&#151 Jeanne Russell

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