New Stanford Report Finds Serious Quality Challenge in National Charter School Sector

New Stanford Report Finds Serious Quality Challenge in National Charter School
Sector

Report Recognizes Robust Demand, Supply and Exceptional Charters, Faults
Quality Controls, Authorizers and Charter Caps

STANFORD, Calif., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report issued today by the
Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University found
that there is a wide variance in the quality of the nation's several thousand
charter schools with, in the aggregate, students in charter schools not faring
as well as students in traditional public schools.

While the report recognized a robust national demand for more charter schools
from parents and local communities, it found that 17 percent of charter
schools reported academic gains that were significantly better than
traditional public schools, while 37 percent of charter schools showed gains
that were worse than their traditional public school counterparts, with 46
percent of charter schools demonstrating no significant difference.

The report found that the academic success of students in charter schools was
affected by the individual state policy environment. States with caps
limiting the number of charter schools reported significantly lower academic
results than states without caps limiting charter growth. States that have the
presence of multiple charter school authorizers also reported lower academic
results than states with fewer authorizers in place. Finally, states with
charter legislation allowing for appeals of previously denied charter school
applications saw a small but significant increase in student performance.

The Stanford report, entitled, "Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in
16 States," is the first detailed national assessment of charter school
impacts since its longitudinal, student-level analysis covers more than 70
percent of the nation's students attending charter schools. The peer-reviewed
analysis looks at student achievement growth on state achievement tests in
both reading and math with controls for student demographics and eligibility
for program support such as free or reduced-price lunch and special education.
The analysis includes the most current student achievement data from 15
states and the District of Columbia and gauges whether students who attend
charter schools fare better than if they would have attended a traditional
public school.

"The issue of quality is the most pressing problem that the charter school
movement faces," said Dr. Margaret Raymond, director of CREDO at Stanford
University. "The charter school movement continues to work hard to remove
barriers to charter school entry into the market, making notable strides to
level the playing field and improve access to facilities funding, but now it
needs to equally focus on removing the barriers to exit, which means closing
underperforming schools."

The report found several key positive findings regarding the academic
performance of students attending charter schools. For students that are low
income, charter schools had a larger and more positive effect than for similar
students in traditional public schools. English Language Learner students also
reported significantly better gains in charter schools, while special
education students showed similar results to their traditional public school
peers.

The report also found that students do better in charter schools over time.
While first year charter school students on average experienced a decline in
learning, students in their second and third years in charter schools saw a
significant reversal, experiencing positive achievement gains.

The report found that achievement results varied by states that reported
individual data. States with reading and math gains that were significantly
higher for charter school students than would have occurred in traditional
schools included: Arkansas, Colorado (Denver), Illinois (Chicago), Louisiana
and Missouri.

States with reading and math gains that were either mixed or were not
different than their peers in the traditional public school system included:
California, the District of Columbia, Georgia and North Carolina.

States with reading and math gains that were significantly below their peers
in the traditional public school system included: Arizona, Florida, Minnesota,
New Mexico, Ohio and Texas.

"If the supporters of charter schools fail to address the quality challenge,
they run the risk of having it addressed for them," said Dr. Raymond. "If the
charter school movement is to flourish, a deliberate and sustained effort to
increase the proportion of high quality schools is essential. The replication
of successful charter school models is one important element of this effort.
On the other side of the equation, however, authorizers, charter school
advocates and policymakers must be willing and able to fulfill their end of
the original charter school bargain, which is accountability in exchange for
flexibility."

To download a copy of the full report and executive summary, visit:
http://credo.stanford.edu

About CREDO at Stanford University
CREDO at Stanford University was established to improve empirical evidence
about education reform and student performance at the primary and secondary
levels. CREDO at Stanford University supports education organizations and
policymakers in using reliable research and program evaluation to assess the
performance of education initiatives. CREDO's valuable insight helps
educators and policymakers strengthen their focus on the results from
innovative programs, curricula, policies or accountability practices.
http://credo.stanford.edu/

SOURCE CREDO at Stanford University

Susan Wolf, +1-415-516-5512, or Mira Browne, +1-415-793-3543, both of Larson
Communications, for CREDO at Stanford University