The Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University -- the nation's leading evaluator of charter schools – released an updated report on the performance of Ohio charter schools.
Credit: Maureen Downey
Credit: Maureen Downey
Ohio has broad laws on who can authorize a charter school, generating
Analyzing student test-result data from 2007 to 2013, CREDO found charter students in Ohio receive, on average, 14 fewer days of learning in reading and 43 fewer days in math when compared to their district counterparts.
The Stanford CREDO report states:
There are positive notes found in the analysis. For example, students in urban charter schools in Ohio post superior yearly gains compared to the statewide average student performance; this finding is unique among the numerous state studies that CREDO has completed. Another positive result is the learning gain superiority for students in poverty and especially for black charter students in poverty: their progress over a year's time outpaces that of equivalent traditional public school students.
In a response to the CREDO report , Chad Aldis, vice president for Ohio policy and advocacy for the pro-charter Fordham Institute, and Ohio research and data analyst Aaron Churchill highlighted what they considered the good and the bad news out of the Stanford study:
Among their observations:
Online charters: We know that e-schools are fast becoming a large part of Ohio's charter school landscape. What is far murkier is how to properly measure their performance and how to hold them accountable for those results. To date, the available data has not been encouraging, and CREDO appeared to confirm this.
Charter operators (for-profit and nonprofit): CREDO compared the charter-impact results of schools run by charter-management networks (for-profit or nonprofit operators) to standalone charters. The findings suggest that charter students attending a management-run school make significantly less academic growth than those attending a single-standing charter.
Charter high schools: CREDO found that charter high schools performed relatively poorly in comparison to districts and to other types of charters. Many of these charter high schools are probably dropout-recovery schools. So while not entirely surprising, it is especially worrisome that dropout-recovery schools are struggling to move the achievement needle for adolescents who need a serious academic boost.
To improve the sector's mediocre student achievement, Ohio policymakers must tether charter school policy to a seemingly simple principle: Replicate high-performing schools and close those that persistently underperform. But to date, Ohio has not created strong enough policies that ensure the replication of great charters or the closure of low-quality schools.
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