Georgia’s public schools took a step backward academically, an annual state report card released last week found, and many charter schools did not escape the lower marks.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of the data found about three of five charter school grade clusters had lower scores on the state education department’s 2013-14 College and Career-Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) than they did the prior school year. Grade clusters are separated by the elementary, middle and high school levels.
The index shows several charter high schools are in trouble or need improvement. Three charter high schools were 50 percent or more below the statewide high school average for academic achievement. Academic achievement — how students fared on state end-of-course and standardized tests — accounts for up to 60 points, more than half the CCRPI score. In all, 15 of the 24 charter high schools reviewed by the AJC had academic achievement scores that were below the statewide high school average.
In addition to achievement, CCRPI grades schools on academic progress and closing the achievement gap between different groups of students. Each school and district can earn up to 100 points through those three areas and an additional 10 points by enrolling students in high-level academic courses and through strong academic performance from low-income students, special education students and those still learning English.
Georgia guidelines say a charter school that opened in 2014 could have its charter revoked if it does not beat the state and local school district’s average CCRPI score by the end of its charter.
The index was released before scores for some schools were final. State education department officials said they were still reviewing the data and declined to comment in detail about charter school performance. The department is finalizing its annual report on charter schools and analyzing the CCRPI as part of that report, said communications director Matt Cardoza.
“The analysis will give us important information on what is going on with performance at each school and guide charter school decisions on how to improve their academic results,” Cardoza said.
There was some encouraging news from the recent CCRPI findings for charter schools. Middle schools with data available were four points better than the state average. Elementary charter schools were on average five-tenths of a point better.
The data reviewed by the AJC showed charter high schools were on average three-tenths of a point below the statewide average.
Conversion charter schools, schools that began as traditional public schools, fared about as well as startup charter schools, the AJC’s review of available data found.
There were 116 charter schools at the start of the school year, according to state data. In recent years, many parents have opted to enroll their children in charter schools because they have greater latitude to experiment in the classroom. Many charter schools also have smaller class sizes, another selling point. For example, the Kindezi charter school in Atlanta has a maximum of eight students in its classes.
Some charter school educators and parent leaders said the state index is relatively new, (the first CCRPI evaluation was of the 2011-12 school year) and noted the calculations used for the results are frequently changing. One such measurement, the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, was removed this school year in exchange for a new student assessment, the Georgia Milestones exams.
“I think what we’re going through is districts and schools are trying to adapt to change,” said Detrius Jones, the legislative chairwoman for the Georgia PTA.
Many charter schools have been operating just a year or two and are still trying to understand the index. The Georgia Charter Schools Association, a nonprofit group that helps charter schools, held a “Demystifying CCRPI” summit earlier this month that discussed ways for schools to help their students improve academically and get higher scores on the index. The association said it was still digesting the data and declined comment.
Kindezi, which has students from kindergarten through the eighth grade, had an above-average CCRPI score for both its elementary and middle school students. However, its elementary school score dropped by about seven points from the prior school year.
Kindezi board member Bettina Love suggested the index be considered as one of several ways to measure a school’s performance.
“It gives us a road map, but it doesn’t give us a full picture,” said Love, who teaches at the school and is an assistant education professor at the University of Georgia. “I think we have to look at all of the measurements and all of the data.”
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