Charter School Students Are Falling Behind

As the Republican dominated Wisconsin legislature fools around with tax gimmicks and wedge issues, Wisconsin shcools flounder with neither adequate funding or consideration for structure.

This is not a study conducted by the National Education Association, the NAACP, or the Democratic Party. This study is from a Bush Administration Agency:

Charter school scores down, study shows

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Fourth-graders in traditional public schools are doing better in both reading and math than students in charter schools, the government says in a report fueling fresh debate over school choice.

Charter school opponents said the findings show that the schools are a failing experiment that drains resources from traditional public schools. Charter school supporters called the report flawed and outdated and said charters improve public education by creating competition.

The Bush administration supports charter schools.

The head of the government agency that produced the report cautioned against reading too much into it.

"This was a pilot study and not meant to be definitive," said Mark Schneider, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which did the report for the Department of Education.

Charter schools will be under careful scrutiny since they are expected to perform better without the normal 'burdens' of a traditional public school.

What next?

Comments

[Brian LeCloux]

I wonder how the portfolios, performances, and exhibitions---the kinds of accountability tools the leading education reformers tell us we should be using---compare between these types of schools?
But we don't know, since most schools don't use these kinds of measures even though they best support innovative, inspiring teaching and engaged, deeply understood learning.
Until we start using the best measures of accountability to augment that the inferior standardized, abstract, test score, claims about which types of school are better are on unscientific grounding.

[Paul]

I think you identified two key elements. First we do not have real meaningful measures. Secondly, when we do measure it is for the purpose of humiliating and condemning, not making improvements.