Study: California's Charter Schools Keeping Up

A new analysis finds that California's public charter schools are showing stronger student achievement gains compared to non-charter public schools. According to the study, which looked at Academic Performance Index (API) scores and growth gains from 2004 to 2005, the state's charter schools, on average, improved their API score by 30.0 points, compared to 20.4 points for non-charter public schools. Also, 57.0 percent of charter schools met their federal AYP targets under No Child Left Behind, compared to 55.8 percent of non-charter schools. Charter schools' strongest gains are being demonstrated in the state’s urban areas, where student achievement has traditionally lagged state averages. One in four California charter schools showed significantly high growth rates (50 points or more) on the state’s accountability system compared to one in 10 non-charter public schools.