LA schools want to copy charter successes. And Denver…?
Thursday, June 12, 2008Written by: Uncle Charley
In the ongoing debate about charter school performance, another piece of evidence emerges today from Los Angeles (H/T Joanne Jacobs). Here are the key findings of the peer-reviewed report:
1. Charter schools in LAUSD outperform traditional public schools on a variety of student achievement measures.
2. Charter schools in LAUSD are more likely than traditional public schools to improve their Academic Performance Index (API) at a faster rate.
3. API for African American students is higher in charter schools in LAUSD than in traditional public schools. API results for other traditionally disadvantaged groups are higher at the middle and high school levels, but not at the elementary level.
4. Charter middle schools in LAUSD consistently outperform traditional public schools.
5. Median API scores increase as charter schools in LAUSD mature. In 2006 - 2007, young charter schools in LAUSD had strong results increasing student achievement.
This is good news about the promise of school choice expansion, especially in urban settings. The
Ramon C. Cortines, L.A. Unified’s newly appointed senior deputy superintendent, said the report pointed to how traditional schools could learn from charters — a strikingly different attitude from that typically expressed by district officials.
“I think that what it says is that they have some best practices, and those should be replicated in the district in all schools,” he said. “I would say the same about islands of excellence in the Unified district. . . . We need to each learn from each other.”
Are
And what about
Yet not a single principal from a DPS neighborhood school has come to visit West Denver Prep or, for that matter, the nearby
KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy , a charter school serving a similarly high-poverty population with similarly successful results.
It remains my contention that the overall high performance and competitive threat of charter schools has made some limited inroads. But there still is not enough incentive in the current system for a true cross-pollination of best practices.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Nicely said. The comment from Cortines struck me the same way. One wishes Colorado school districts showed similar curiosity and hunger for good ideas and programs that could benefit other public schools. Maybe the interest in greater autonomy from Bruce Randolph and other schools suggests some–rather than looking at charters with some contempt and a little envy–are now willing to look at charters as schools that might offer some helpful stories of what–with a little more freedom–a school can do. Many in the charter movement ten years ago heard this refrain from the system: oh, but you’re not doing anything that innovative so what do we have to learn from you. Perhaps that is changing. Although I don’t think innovation is the key piece that charters should feel obliged to offer. Others - not charters - made innovation a standard by which we would be judged. I always thought we should be judged by how well kids learned and how good our schools turned out to be.