A national study released last week by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) gives high marks to Louisiana’s charter schools, when compared to the state’s traditional public schools and to charter schools in 14 other states and Washington, D.C. The report was issued on Monday, prior to Thursday’s decision by the Senate Education Committee to support a measure that would remove Louisiana’s cap on the number of charter schools permitted to operate in the state.
The Stanford report revealed that in Louisiana, the growth demonstrated by charter school students in reading and math during their first year of enrollment in a charter school was equal to the gains made by traditional public school students. However, in subsequent years, the charter school students showed greater gains in both subjects - with the largest increases made in years two and three.
“As we seek to create a world-class education system for every child in Louisiana, we recognize the need to support effective school models,” State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek said. “And as we consider the expansion of charter schools in our state, it is reassuring to confirm that Louisiana has implemented processes and standards that have resulted in fostering high-quality charter school programs.”
Charter schools are publicly funded schools that are governed by their own boards of directors. Currently, there are 65 charter schools operating in Louisiana. Last year, Louisiana lawmakers raised the limit on charter school authorizations in the state from 42 to 70. The legislation forwarded by the Senate Education Committee Thursday, House Bill 519, authored and amended by Representative Walt Leger, would remove this restriction.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has called on all states to lift their charter school caps. The national education agency head has indicated that states that raise charter limits will be viewed more favorably when the agency doles out the much anticipated Race to the Top funding - $4.35 billion — which will be awarded on a competitive basis. At the same time, Duncan has stressed the need for states to close down low-performing charter schools — and based on the study, there are a large number that fall in that category.
From a national perspective, results of the study indicated that 37 percent of the charter schools produced educational gains that were “significantly below” what their students would have achieved if they had enrolled in traditional public schools. And another 46 percent of the charters produced learning gains that were indistinguishable from those of local public schools.
The study of Louisiana charter schools was based on the math and reading scores of 34,479 charter school students in 52 charter schools across the state. The charter school students were paired with non-charter school students based on factors such as family income, beginning test scores and special education status. To reach their comparative conclusions, researchers compared the progress of charter school students to the collective progress made by comparable students enrolled in traditional schools across the state.
While student gains made during the first year of enrollment in charter schools were comparable to traditional public school students, during their second year, charter school students showed gains in both reading and math that were three percentiles higher than the gains made by traditional public school students. In their third year, the gains made by charter school students were four percentiles higher, again in both subjects. In their fourth year of enrollment, charter school students showed a gain that was two percentiles higher in math when compared with public school students, but showed no statistically significant variance in reading.
According to the study, not only did charter school students in Louisiana achieve higher overall gains than traditional school students, but this improved performance also surfaced when criteria, such as race and poverty, were analyzed.
Specifically, Black and Hispanic children attending Louisiana charter schools made significantly higher gains in reading and math when compared with their counterparts in traditional public schools. This is also true for students in poverty (as measured by eligibility for free or reduced-price lunches).
However, the Stanford study also noted that special education students in Louisiana charter schools showed no significant gains in reading or math, nor did students without sufficient English proficiency or students who had been retained in their grade level.
The study is one of the most comprehensive national studies ever conducted on charter schools. Among the states and cities that were studied, besides Louisiana, the highest charter school gains in both math and reading surfaced in Arkansas, Denver, Chicago and Missouri. The report noted that charter schools outperformed traditional schools in states where overall student performance is low, and that economically disadvantaged students and English language learners benefit the most from enrollment in charter schools.
The Stanford study also revealed that the academic success of charter schools is affected by the policies under which charter schools operate. Specifically:
• States that limit the number of charter schools realize significantly lower academic growth than states without such limits. Louisiana is an exception to this rule since the state has a statutory cap of seventy on the number of charters schools permitted to operate in the state.
• States that empower multiple entities to authorize charter schools have significantly lower growth in student academic achievement. Here, again, Louisiana represents an exception. Louisiana’s Charter School Law provides that different types of charter schools may be authorized by either local school boards or by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).
When state charter legislation allows appeals of adverse decisions on applications or renewals, students have a small, but significant gain in learning. In this case, Louisiana’s situation is in keeping with the norm. State law allows a Type 1 or Type 3 charter school proposal, rejected by the local school board, to be appealed to BESE for authorization as a Type 2 charter school. In addition, a proposal that is not approved by either the local school board or by BESE may be resubmitted to either board during the same approval cycle, after significant revision.
“This study reiterates the need for us to closely consider how we frame our policies around school governance,” Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Keith Guice said. “We recognize that there is not one single answer to solving our state’s education challenges. Clearly, charter schools offer us a viable solution to raising student achievement in some cases, but it is crucial for policy makers at the local and state level to consider best practices and proven models as they authorize charter schools.”
Proposed legislation by Louisiana Representative Carmody would require local districts to engage in an application review process that complies with the latest Principles and Standards for Quality Charter School Authorizing as promulgated by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) prior to awarding a charter to an applicant organization. BESE already follows the recommendations of NACSA prior to assigning charters through state authority.
Charter schools are commonly established by local community groups, including non-profit organizations, community or parent groups, churches, businesses, universities, municipalities, teachers and others, and Louisiana law requires no fewer than three certified teachers to be involved in the sponsoring group.
Current Louisiana law also requires charter schools to participate in the state’s accountability system, abide by curriculum requirements and ensure that the qualifications of its instructional staff meet No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements.
This article was originally published in the June 22, 2009 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper |
