Charter School Progress
Good news on charter schools from NCPA:
PROGRESS OF TEXAS CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENTSDuring the 2001-2002 school year, more than 50,000 students were enrolled in state-approved charter schools in Texas. Charter schools are independent public schools that are freed from many of the bureaucratic rules and regulations of traditional public schools.
Overall, 57.6 percent of students enrolled in Texas charter schools are economically disadvantaged to the degree that they qualify for federally subsidized lunches, a somewhat higher proportion than the 50.4 percent who qualify in traditional public schools.
Students who remain in charter schools for consecutive years have strong academic gains. Passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), a minimum skills test, have improved for children enrolled in charter schools in each of the years charter schools have been open in Texas.
A recent Texas Public Policy Foundation study compared the performance of students in charter schools and traditional public schools using the Texas Learning Index (TLI), which is derived from raw TAAS scores and controls for variations across years and grades. For the years 1999 and 2000:More on Charter Schools from NCPA
- Students who stayed in charter schools for two years experienced a TLI increase of 1.6 points in reading and 2.8 points in math; by comparison, index scores for students who stayed in traditional public schools increased 1.4 points in reading and 1.5 points in math. [See Figure II.]
- The progress of at-risk students in charters and traditional public schools was roughly the same, while the progress of non-at-risk charter school students (1.5 point increase in reading and a 2.5 point increase in math) far outpaced the progress of comparable students in public schools (0.7 point increase in both reading and math). Thus the performance of charter school students improved at a rate greater than that of traditional public school students.
Chris Alden
Christopher J. Alden is Chairman & CEO of Six Apart, Ltd., the world's largest blogging company. Six Apart acquired Rojo Networks, Inc., creator of an innovative RSS feed reading service, where Mr. Alden was co-founder and CEO. Before Rojo, he was CEO of Red Herring Communications, Inc., publisher of Red Herring magazine -- described by the Wall Street Journal as the "bible of Silicon Valley" - which he helped launch out of his house in 1993. Prior to that he founded Computer Guides, a consultancy, and taught computer studies at Crystal Springs Uplands school. Mr. Alden also has a background in real estate development and hotel management, having worked for Western Land Corporation and Woodside Hotels & Resorts.
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1 Comments
My son goes to an excellent charter in Colorado & I have kept my long time (high school) friend in Texas informed of what I noticed of his progress & the school's community. She was interested and did some basic research in her area (Fort Worth). What she came back to me with surprised me. She said that the charters in Texas are below most state standards. That the charters are in threat of closing & no new funding. Is this true?