FOCUS D.C. Public Charter School Bulletin

October 3, 2004

--Charter High
Schools Outperform DCPS High Schools
--FOCUS Charter School Startup Program
Begins

D.C. Charter High Schools Enroll Hardest to Educate,
Outperform DCPS High Schools

According to data published in
a recent article in Washingtonian magazine ["Top High Schools," October
2004], D.C. public charter high schools enroll a much greater percentage of
disadvantaged students than do DCPS high schools yet on average their students
significantly outperform DCPS students on the Stanford 9 test. The
charter school advantage is even more pronounced when DCPS schools and
programs that select their students are excluded (charter schools are
prohibited from screening students).

Charter school students also
greatly outperform equivalent DCPS students on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.


Overall, 73% of the students at the 11 charter high schools
qualify for free or reduced lunch (the range is 65%-98%), compared to 51% at
the 16 DCPS high schools (9%-76%). Locally and nationwide, average
performance on standardized tests is directly linked to poverty as measured by
free and reduced lunch rolls.

Yet a close examination of the
performance data presented in the article shows that, on average, students at
the 11 charter high schools significantly outperform students at non-selective
DCPS high schools -- regardless of the number of free and reduced lunch
students the DCPS schools enroll.

Here are the numbers (a
bar graph is attached):

--At the seven public charter high schools
enrolling more than 75% free and reduced lunch students (DCPS has only one
high school in this category), 22% of the students scored at the "proficient"
level in tests of verbal ability and 36% in math. If the one alternative
charter high school in this category is excluded (scores from DCPS alternative
high schools are not included in the article), the proficiency figures rise to
25% verbal and 40% math.

Average SAT scores at the four charter
schools reporting averaged 451 verbal and 490 math.

--At
the four charter high schools enrolling between 51% and 75% free and reduced
lunch students (average: 66%), 27% achieved verbal proficiency and 39% math.
If the one alternative charter school in this category is excluded, the
Stanford 9 figures rise to 33% verbal and 53% math. The comparable figures for
the six DCPS schools in this category (average: 62%) are 12% and 23%.


Average SAT scores for charter schools in this
category were 410 verbal and 410 math, compared to 358 and 348 at the DCPS
schools.

--At the non-selective DCPS schools with between 26%
and 50% free and reduced lunch students (average: 45%) the Stanford 9
proficiency averages were 17% verbal and 29% math, and SAT scores averaged 395
verbal and 387 math -- lower than in the charter schools with far more
disadvantaged students. There are no charter schools in this
category.

--Two selective DCPS schools and no charter schools enroll
fewer than 25% free and reduced students.

--Students at the top five
charter school high schools (free and reduced lunch average: 74%) average 32%
verbal proficiency and 50% math. At the top five non-selective DCPS
schools (56% free and reduced lunch), students average 17% verbal proficiency
and 34% math.

Clearly, although superior to their DCPS counterparts,
even among the top performing charter high schools many more students than not
have failed to achieve grade-level proficiency in reading and writing and half
have failed to do so in math. Even so, as the struggle to school our
most disadvantaged older students continues, the District's charter schools
can take heart that they are providing a better, more hopeful option to the
families of these long-neglected students.

FOCUS Charter School Startup Program
Begins

On Saturday, October
16th, FOCUS kicks off the second year of its Charter School Startup Program
with a day-long seminar on the basics of starting a charter school in D.C.
Participants will learn the ins and outs of the charter school
application process and how to design their academic programs and develop
their business plans. Nearly 40 participants have registered but some
seats remain. The seminar will be offered again on November
13th.

Those interested in attending either seminar session should
contact FOCUS at 202/387-0405.

Friends of Choice in Urban
Schools
1530 16th Street, NW #104
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 387-0405
phone
(202) 667-3798
fax
www.focusdc.org