On average, the funding gap between charter schools and traditional schools is 22 percent, or $1,800 per pupil. The average charter school ends up with a total funding shortfall of nearly half a million dollars.
Source: Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier
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Michigan Charter Schools Conference, October 26-27 in Detroit
The Michigan Association of Public School Academies has begun registration for its annual conference to be held at Detroit's Cobo Center, October 26-27, 2006. This two-day conference of more than 75 speakers and 3,000 participants will offer professional development in several different tracks (ranging from special education to board development).
A Primer on Virtual Charter Schools: Mapping the Electronic Frontier
This Issue Brief is the first of a two-part series on virtual charter schools and their authorizers. This document presents authorizers with an introduction to how virtual charter schools work, who they are for, what benefits they offer and the challenges they create. It examines evidence of effectiveness and seeks to dispel common myths about virtual schooling.
Authorizing Virtual Charter Schools: Rules of the Road on the Digital Highway
This Issue Brief is the second of a two-part series on virtual charter schools and their authorizers. It examines the challenges and opportunities of approving, overseeing, and evaluating virtual charter schools. It assesses the approaches and lessons learned by current virtual charter school authorizers and details the education and management issues that are unique to virtual charter schools. The document offers numerous recommendations for high quality authorizing of virtual charter schools.
Massachusetts Charter School Achievement Comparison Study: An Analysis of 2001-2005 MCAS Performance.
This four-year evaluation of performance by charter schools and their sending districts on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) finds that the state's charter school students are performing as well as, and often better than, their counterparts in regular public schools. Major findings of the study include: in both English Language Arts and Mathematics, at least 30 percent of the charter schools performed statistically significantly higher than their sending districts in each year (except 2001). Higher performance in charter schools was even more prevalent in the racial/ethnic subgroups of African and Hispanic students and low income students. For example, between 32 percent and 46 percent of low income students in charter schools performed significantly higher in English Language Arts assessments than peers in their sending districts each year.
Chicago Public Schools' Charter Schools Performance Report for 20042005
This evaluation finds that Chicago's charter schools performed better than neighboring traditional public schools in reading, science and math in 2004-05. Charter schools and campuses out-performed their relative neighborhood schools on 86 percent of the relative student performance measures. All 14 charter schools reporting on the ISAT composite scores had a higher percentage of students meeting and exceeding Illinois Learning Standards than their comparison neighborhood schools. All six charter high schools reporting on PSAE composite scores had a higher percentage of students meeting or exceeding Illinois Learning Standards than their comparison neighborhood schools. In addition, students attending the eight charter public high schools were more likely to graduate on time than those attending neighboring traditional public schools (75% v. 54%).
Charter School Success: A Summary of the Current Research on California's Effectiveness at Improving Student Achievement
This report summarizes the findings of eight major studies commissioned on California's public charter schools over the past five years. It demonstrates that the state's charter schools are performing at least as well as, or better than, non-charter public schools.
A Closer Look at Charter Schools Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling
This examination of National Assessment of Educational Progress (2003) scores from 150 public charter schools and 6,764 traditional schools finds fourth-graders in traditional schools scored an average of 5.2 points better in reading than students in charters. It also shows that the traditional school students scored 5.8 points better in math than students in the public charters. The authors caution that such results could be influenced by factors other than charter school quality, including the length of time that students in the charter school sample will have spent in the charter school system, the possible attraction of parents to charter schools because they felt that their children were not well served by public noncharter schools, and the extent to which parents provide differential amounts of support and encouragement for academic achievement.
Top 10 Charter Communities by Market Share
This document examines the public charter school market share on a community by community basis. While charter schools enroll a relatively small percentage of public school students nationwide, some communities far exceed national and state averages to enroll high percentages of charter school students. Nineteen different communities educate over 13 percent of their public school students in charter schools (and ties account for 19 different communities being represented in this top "ten"). In at least six communities, charters had a market share of at least 20 percent. Charters in New Orleans, with its restructured school system, lead with a 69 percent market share. Ohio has five different communities in the top ten, with Dayton at number two with a 28 percent charter market share. The nation's capital comes in at number 3 with 25 percent. The largest community on the list is Detroit, with 18 percent of its nearly 160,000 students in charter schools.
Key Charter Schools Questions for Current and Potential Policymakers
As the 2006 election season enters its final weeks, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is offering a questionnaire template to help voters determine where candidates stand on charter school issues. Some of the questions focus on federal policy (such as flexibility in defining highly-qualified teachers), while others concern state policy (such as state mandated caps on charters).
14th Annual California Charter Schools Conference, March 27-30 in San Diego, CA
The 14th Annual California Charter Schools Conference will take place March 27-30, 2007 at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center in San Diego, CA with a focus on "Teaching and Learning in High-Quality Charter Public Schools." The conference will offer sessions that share strategies and best practices that can be utilized to improve student achievement and charter school operations. A Call for Presentations is open until October 20. For more information, send an email to conference@charterassociation.org or call 213.244.1446, ext. 2201.
Online Call for Presentations and Registration for 2007 National Charter Schools Conference
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will host the 2007 National Charter Schools Conference from April 24 – 27 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The online Call for Presentations proposal submission system as well as conference registration and hotel reservations for the 2007 conference has begun. The conference website allows users to register, make hotel reservations, and/or submit a presentation proposal. The deadline for presentation proposal submissions is October 16th. For questions, send an e-mail to nationalconference@publiccharters.org or call 206-463-3344.
NACSA 2006 Annual Conference, October 23-24 in San Diego, California
Register by October 18 for the National Association for Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) 6th Annual Conference, October 23-24 in San Diego, CA. NACSA’s Conference is designed to offer highly interactive and practice-oriented sessions on issues important to all who are dedicated to advancing quality charter schools and school change. Topics will include the essentials of effective charter school authorizing, measuring academic performance, and using chartering as a strategy to restructure low-performing schools. Tom Vander Ark of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will deliver the keynote address.
Virtual Back to School Day Transcripts
In early September, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools held a series of live online chats over the course of a school day. Charter school leaders, parents and students, and policymakers and education experts discussed the latest information on the most pressing issues facing charter schools today, such as funding, facilities, and restrictive legislated caps. Guest speakers included newly appointed Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Innovation and Improvement Morgan Brown, education bloggers Alexander Russo, Andrew Rotherham, and Joe Williams, and Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Transcripts from each session are available online.
Ninth Annual North Carolina Charter School Conference, September 27-29 in Durham, NC
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is holding its annual public charter school conference September 28-29 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham, NC. This year's theme is "Leading for Results." Sessions on classroom management, technology, innovative practices, and other education topics will be available.
National Conference on Charter School Research, September 28-29 in Nashville, Tennessee
The National Research and Development Center on School Choice is hosting a national conference on charter school research for researchers and policymakers. The conference, "Charter Schools: What Fosters Growth and Outcomes" will be held at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from September 28-29, 2006. Nationally recognized education experts will discuss new charter school research related to teaching and learning in charter schools, governance and finance, and charter school effects on student achievement.
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