On Wednesday Stanford's Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) published Charter School Growth and Replication, which focuses on what can be learned from the track records of more than 1,300 independently managed public schools and nearly 170 Charter Management Organizations (CMOs).
From the study’s lead author and CREDO director Margaret Raymond:
This report’s findings challenge the conventional wisdom that a young underperforming school will improve if given time. Our research shows that if you start wobbly, chances are you’ll stay wobbly. Similarly, if a school is successful in producing strong academic progress from the start, our analysis shows it will remain a strong and successful school.
We have solid evidence that high quality is possible from the outset. Since the study also shows that the majority of charter management organizations produce consistent quality through their portfolios – regardless of the actual level of quality – policy makers will want to assure that charter schools that replicate have proven models of success.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a statement from its president and chief executive Nina Rees in response to the latest CREDO study:
The charter school movement is making great strides at advancing quality as it continues to grow. Policy makers are working tirelessly to strengthen charter laws and educators and advocates are increasing their focus to ensure that growth and achievement can happen together, particularly for low-income and minority students. These efforts are continuing to show in recent research.Among the study’s key findings:
The CREDO report also validates the importance of charter school authorizers – groups that are able to hold charter schools accountable for student achievement, and ensure that those that are not serving students with a high-quality public education no longer have that privilege. Over the past several years, between 100 and 200 public charter schools have closed annually and that’s largely a good thing.
*Charter schools can start off with high-quality programs, “disproving the notion of a universal rocky start-up period.” Strong starters can grow into successful charter school networks.
*CMOs had better learning gains than traditional public schools and independently operated charter schools when it came to certain student populations. The greatest impact was seen among minority children living in poverty.
*When CMOs add new schools, the quality of the programs is consistent with the other campuses already operating in the network. That finding should serve to remind policymakers and educators to consider track records carefully when deciding whether a CMO should be allowed to expand, the study concluded.
For more on these issues, visit the EWA Story Starters online resource on Charters & Choice.
Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.
Unfortunately, because the study does not provide data or identify its data, it is very difficult to evaluate the conclusions. This is particularly true regarding Responsive Education Solutions where the study appears to confuse alternative accountability schools with standard accountability schools. Until data is released, one cannot know whether the study conclusions are justified.
ReplyDeleteTerry, I'm curious: What are you looking for specifically in terms of data that isn't in the technical appendix? http://credo.stanford.edu/pdfs/CGAR%20Growth%20Technical%20Appendix.pdf
ReplyDeleteHi Emily.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically, the report contains three entries for Responsive Education Solutions: Vista Academies, Premier High Schools, and Responsive Ed. While we do have elementary schools that we call Vista Academies and Premier High Schools, they all belong to Responsive Education Solutions--there is only one company over all of these schools. So what schools would then be included in the three categories listed in the report. Nowhere in the appendix or anywhere else in the report does it explain this making it impossible to confirm or even evaluate their identification and use of data.
Even more troubling is that the study fails to account for the fact that Premier High Schools are all alternative accountability schools that focus on At Risk students and credit recovery students. Unfortunately, the "virtual twin" in the CREDO report really is not since At Risk status is not a consideration. Thus, all of the Premier schools are analyzed by comparing the students to virtual twins who are not likewise At Risk. This is difficult to understand or defend.
Moreover, RES should not have been included in the list of four super-systems. The one company, RES, has total control of all of its schools--there is no "semi-autonomous" CMO under the RES flagship (certainly not multiple CMOs)--which is one of the criteria the report says was used to identify super-systems. Nor is RES a national organization, which is another of the criteria used to make the identification (All RES schools are located in one state, Texas. Only in the fall of 2013 will RES expand beyond the state of Texas, but during this study and even now they are not a national company in terms of schools serving more than one state.) As a result, using the study's own criteria, RES does not qualify as a super-system or CMO of CMOs.
For additional perspective see the following: http://www.edreform.com/2013/02/national-charter-research-misfires-on-charter-schools/