Summary Charter schools

1. How does student performance at charter schools compare to that of traditional public schools?

· In general student achievement at charter schools is lower than at public schools. In some states student performance is comparable to that of other public schools. However, there are also many examples of very successful charter schools.

· Have to be careful in drawing conclusions about effectiveness of charter schools without also considering the characteristics of students enrolled in such schools

2. One of the main reasons for the establishment of charter schools was to provide opportunities for new or innovative practices to emerge. Have charter schools succeeded in this area?

· Charter schools have often been formed around a particular philosophy or to serve particular types of students but overall little evidence of new and innovative practices.

· There are examples of individual charter schools with innovative practices. (One area of innovation is that teachers at charter schools are often more involved with the whole school.)

· Charter schools typically have smaller class sizes – unclear whether this is by design or whether it’s because they’re only a small number of children at each grade level.

3. Charter schools were expected to provide a stimulus to improve public schools? Have charter schools, either through competition or through innovations being more widely adopted, had a positive effect on public schools?

· Because of the uneasy relationship with school districts, there’s little communication. States also appear to have done little to highlight innovations. Little evidence of charter schools introducing new practices to the public schools.

· The effects of charter schools vary depending on the number of charter schools in an area as well as the performance of public schools. If there are several charter schools in a district then they pose a more serious threat in reducing the school district’s budget. In these situations school districts are having to respond to the increased competition – see Miami-Dade article in Ed Week 11/6/02.

· If public schools are viewed as generally performing well, there’s less reason for parents to remove their child and therefore charter schools have little effect.

· One of the negative affects that schools districts have felt, although to varying degrees, is the loss of $.

4. Should states assume more responsibility in helping charter schools with acquiring facilities i.e. space in which to operate?

Viewpoints:

· If the school is required to teach the standard course of study and for students to be tested then it should help.

· However, the state should only help schools that have demonstrated that they are successful in helping students learn.