FOCUS D.C. Public Charter School Bulletin

October 16, 2006

In Apples to Apples Comparison, D.C. Charter Public School Students Outperform School System Students; Overwhelmingly Disadvantaged School Population More Likely to Test at Grade Level in Charter Public Schools

Students at charter public schools enrolling the District’s poorest children are more likely to be reading and doing math at grade level than students at school system schools serving the same population, according to a just-completed FOCUS analysis of the spring 2006 D.C.-CAS scores. This “charter school effect” occurs at all grade levels but is most pronounced at the secondary schools.

Over 70% of D.C.’s public school students are considered to be disadvantaged, and the majority of these struggle to read and do math at grade level.

To find out how the charter public schools are doing with these students, FOCUS staff disaggregated and compared the test results of charter public and system public schools that enroll at least 51% disadvantaged students. Test scores were reported for 42 charter and 106 DCPS schools in this category, while scores were reported for only two small charter schools and 29 DCPS schools that enroll 50% or fewer disadvantaged students, making meaningful comparison impossible.

The FOCUS analysis shows that D.C.’s charter public schools are doing better with their disadvantaged students than are school system schools, dramatically so at the high schools, where school leaders and teachers struggle to overcome years of inadequate schooling and poor study habits.

In high schools with 51%-75% disadvantaged students, the percentage of students at grade level in D.C. Public Charter School Board (DCPCSB) charters was 41%; in Board of Education (BOE) charters 38%; and in DCPS schools 18%. Math scores also were much higher for the charter schools.

The charter school effect also obtains at high schools enrolling between 76% and 100% disadvantaged students. Here the grade-level reading scores were: DCPCSB charters 31%; BOE charters 23%; and the one DCPS school in this category 11%. Math grade level scores followed the pattern.

The charter school advantage continues at the middle and junior high schools with 51%-75% disadvantaged students. In these schools, the percentages of students reading at grade level were as follows: DCPCSB charters 50%; BOE charters 30%; DCPS schools 25%. Again, math scores largely tracked the reading results.

Only two DCPCSB and two BOE middle/junior high school charters enroll between 76% and 100% disadvantaged students, compared to five DCPS schools. The results in reading: DCPCSB charters 30%; BOE charters 20%; DCPS schools 20%. In math the DCPCSB charters scored highest, with the two BOE charters and five DCPS schools separated by just one percentage point.

Charter school students also score better at elementary schools with more than 50% disadvantaged students.

In elementary schools enrolling between 51% and 75% disadvantaged students, both boards’ charter schools again outscored DCPS in reading: DCPCSB charters had 49% at grade level; BOE charters 40%; DCPS schools 37%. DCPS students trailed DCPCSB students by 15 percentage points in math and BOE charters by one percentage point.

Students at the elementary charters with 76% to 100% disadvantaged students also outscored DCPS in reading, with 37% of the BOE charter students at grade level and 30% at the DCPCSB charters, compared to 29% at DCPS schools. Math grade-level scores were DCPCSB charters 22%; BOE charters 26%; and DCPS schools 18%.

Better-Off Students Concentrated in DCPS Schools; Average Scores Much Higher

In D.C. as elsewhere, schools with relatively few disadvantaged students do better on standardized tests than do those schools whose results are presented above.

For example, DCPS has 10 elementary schools averaging just 12% disadvantaged students (there are no charter schools at any grade level with between 0% and 25% disadvantaged students). 83% of the DCPS students tested at those schools are at grade level in reading and 79% in math. Grade level proficiency at DCPS elementary schools with 26%-50% disadvantaged students falls to 48% in reading and 34% in math, approximately the same as the one small DCPCSB charter in this category (there are no BOE charters here).

At the secondary level, DCPS has one middle school in the 0%-25% category, 71% of whose students scored at grade level in reading and 57% in math. One DCPS middle school and one DCPS junior high school have between 26% and 51% disadvantaged students; an average of 73% of them scored at grade level in reading and 61% in math. Just one DCPCSB charter fell into this category; 58% of the 114 students tested scored at grade level in reading and 34% in math.

No charter high schools enroll fewer than 51% disadvantaged students; DCPS has five non-selective and three magnet schools in this category. Students at the former scored at 37% in reading and 36% in math; at the three magnet schools the averages were considerably higher.

A chart showing these results is attached.

Friends of Choice in Urban Schools
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