Statewide Public Charter School Performance Mixed in Ohio

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/NEWS04/808270404

Statewide, according to the Ohio Department of Education, eight public charter schools were rated Excellent, while 102 were rated as being in Academic Emergency. Comparing public charter schools to district public schools is not comparing apples to apples because public charter schools often have different purposes, said Ron Adler, president of the Ohio Coalition for Quality Education, a public charter school advocacy group. He said public charter schools can be dropout recovery schools or serve children with special needs, and that they vary widely depending on their mission. "They want to have one set of uniform tests for everyone, but not all students are alike," he said. Allison Perz, executive director of the Ohio Council of Community School which sponsors public charter schools throughout the state, noted the unique challenge of the state's public charter schools is to engage students who were not comfortable in a traditional school setting and who are often years behind in academic performance when they enroll. "Typically, the students who are drawn or attracted to charter schools are those who have had a negative experience in another format," she said. "We are noting that across the board, collectively for all our schools, we're seeing 77 percent that either increased in their rating or stayed the same," she said.

Source: Toledo Blade
Date: 08/27/2008