Charter schools top peers on tests
It seems Georgia's charter school students have earned some bragging rights.
Officials at the Georgia Charter Schools Association announced Friday that students in charter schools statewide are out-performing their public school peers on state benchmark tests.
A GCSA analysis found that 81.1 percent of all charter schools met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals for students in 2009 compared with 79.1 percent of all traditional public schools in the state.
Students at start-up charter schools —- charters run independently of local districts —- fared even better. Nearly 83 percent of independent charter schools made AYP, according to the analysis.
"This is good news," said Tony Roberts, executive director of the Georgia Charter Schools Association. "For those who always wanted to prove that charter schools don't perform as well as traditional public schools, this is one sign that many of them do and a majority of them do in the state of Georgia."
Georgia has 113 charter schools authorized by the state with the freedom to get creative to engage and enrich students. Charters can bypass certain Georgia education mandates as long as they produce results in student achievement. Meeting and exceeding Adequate Yearly Progress goals are part of their duties.
Dana Tofig, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education said that the 2009 AYP results reported for charter schools appear to be in line with past trends for the schools. "Overall, if you look at our annual reports on charter schools, the charter schools seem to make AYP at a higher rate," Tofig said. "Charter schools serve a more diverse population, racially and economically, yet they are [performing] in some cases better than traditional schools and in some cases as good as traditional schools. It is part of their contracts."
Tofig said that it is "good" that the charter schools can continue to perform at high levels during a period of growth for the campuses.
Georgia Charter Schools Association officials say they were very impressed with the achievement of students at several schools including:
University Community Academy, a start-up K-8 charter in Atlanta and one of the state's highest performing Title I schools made AYP for the sixth consecutive year. About 80 percent of its students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.
Ivy Preparatory Academy, a start-up charter middle school for girls in Norcross had more than 90 percent of its inaugural sixth-grade class meet or exceed standards in reading, English/language arts and math.
DeKalb PATH Academy, a start-up charter middle school in DeKalb County, with a Hispanic population of nearly 70 percent, made AYP for the fourth consecutive year.
