Good news on charter performance
By Jim StergiosOctober 28th, 2009
From Marc Kenen of the Mass Charter School Association comes some good news.
Entry Filed under: Education, NewsThe new MCAS growth model analysis shows that charter public schools are producing very strong academic gains for their students statewide (see the data at the Boston Globe online):
* In Grade 6, charters represented 9 of the top 10 growth districts in math and 6 of the top 10 districts in English;
* In Grade 8, charters represented 7 of the top 10 growth districts in math and 4 of the top 10 districts in English;
* In Grade 10, charters represented 5 of the top 10 growth districts in both math and English.
5 Comments Add your own
1. rack | October 28th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Jim- you also should have pointed out the bottom performers were Charter schools. You need to be balanced.
2. Jim Stergios | November 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Rack – Thanks for your reply. I am nice guy so I posted your comment, but this is the same comment you always make.
In the future, take a more constructive approach. For example, in this case you could have looked at the 6th, 8th and 10th grades and give us the 10 lowest growth schools.
Data does not bite. And it moves us from a discussion of I think-You think. I am always happy to learn from people who engage openly on the data.
3. Eduardo del Solar | November 5th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Jim,
In the Boston Public Schools, Charter schools have the highest attrition rate of all public schools. Charter schools are basically drop out factories because they meet the metric used by Secretary Duncan. A school is labeled a drop out factory when 40% of starting students fail to graduate 4 years later. Can this possibly be due to innovation and freedom of regulation Jim?
Would be nice to know what is the attrition rate for Charter schools in the entire state. Are most Charter schools also drop out factories based on this metric?
4. Jim | November 7th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Ho hum, Eduardo. Forgive me for not taking the attrition criticism seriously, but just because you repeat something a thousand times does not make it true.
See my blog here on the attrition accusation (http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/blog/news/contrition-about-attrition). Charter attrition leads to 10 percent dropout rates, below the state average. Attrition is higher in Boston Public Schools, and they have 35 percent dropout rates. The MTA should show some contrition for its report on attrition.
And you might want to try getting your facts straight before pontificating.
5. Eduardo del Solar | November 8th, 2009 at 11:48 am
“Ho hum, Eduardo. Forgive me for not taking the attrition criticism seriously.”
If you are wearing your pioneer cap Jim, your answer makes perfect sense. However, for the thousands of parents looking for viable schools for their kids, attrition rates for staff/ students are always a consideration in selecting a school. This is true for K-12 and at the college level as well.
Eduardo
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