Study: Boston charter students outpace peers in other cities
A new national study validating the success of Boston charter schools could fuel the debate this year over expanding access to charter schools in urban Bay State districts.
As Gov. Charlie Baker continues to develop his own plan to close the student achievement gap, a report published Wednesday by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University found that students at Boston charter schools averaged more progress than their peers at charter schools in 40 other urban districts around the country over a six-year span.
Boston charter students also outpaced their counterparts in traditional Boston public schools, achieving academic growth in both math and reading equivalent to hundreds of extra school days when compared with traditional public school students.
"These are historic achievement gains," Marc Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, said. "Charters are providing a blueprint for success: longer school days and years, intensive one-on-one tutoring, flexible school-based management, high levels of accountability, a passionate philosophy of learning that infuses in each child a belief that he or she can succeed, and a culture of respect for one another."
The CREDO report found that Boston charter school students achieved growth in math equivalent to 223 more school days than their traditional Boston public school peers and growth in reading on par with 166 extra school days.
Overall, Boston charter school students led the nation in academic progress that surpassed their traditional public school counterparts from the 2006-2007 school year through the 2011-2012 year. The Stanford study found that in general urban charter schools provide higher levels of growth in math and reading with 26 of 41 urban districts reviewed having greater gains in math than traditional public schools and 23 urban areas showing larger reading gains.
Baker expressed strong support for expanding access to charter schools during his campaign last year, and has continued to voice interest since taking office despite so far not producing any concrete proposals to accomplish that goal.
"We're working on our legislative agenda, but I think you can expect that we'll put out some thoughts we have on how to close the achievement gap and improve the quality of schools and schools that are not delivering for kids, and that will probably include an increase in the charter school cap, sure," Baker told the News Service on Tuesday.
Debate over whether to expand access to charter schools and how to compensate districts for the loss of students to charters has divided Beacon Hill for years. While proponents point to anecdotes and research like the CREDO study as evidence of success, traditional public school supporters fret over the loss of public resources and the sometimes disproportionate share of students with special education and language needs left in the district schools.
A group of charter school advocates this month threatened to sue the state to lift the charter school enrollment cap, arguing it violates children's civil rights by limiting their access to quality education. While the number of students on waiting lists for charter slots has been disputed, Kenen said 18,800 names were entered into Boston charter school lotteries last week vying for 2,200 open seats."This is an issue of educational equality," Kenen said. "Charter public schools have been successful at closing race-and-income-based achievement gaps that rob disadvantaged children of the same opportunities that children in affluent suburban districts enjoy. Successful models of education should be embraced and expanded, not derided and smothered. Our goal has always been to work with districts to share successful practices and strategies."
The CREDO report found that while the number of low-income students and English language learners in Boston charter schools has been on the rise over the past six year, the totals still trail those enrolled in tradition public schools.
While Boston charters enrolled 79 percent low-income students, 17 percent with special education needs and 8 percent English language learners, traditional Boston public schools had a 75 percent poverty rate with 30 percent of students still learning English and 21 percent in special education.
Auditor Suzanne Bump, in an audit published by her office last December, raised questions over whether charter schools were fulfilling their promise of being incubators for innovative approaches to education that could be shared with public school districts.
The audit also found deficiencies in the way the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education collects data on charter school waiting lists, identifying instances of duplication and outdated information.
Describing a "difficult working relationship" between charter and traditional public schools and "little sharing of best practices," Bump reported that 48 charter schools had been renewed without facing adverse action for failing to share their best practices with their home districts.
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