Study shows charter schools better

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http://www.washtimes.com/national/2...04255-3028r.htm

The vast majority of children attending the nation's 1,146 charter schools with at least 10 students are more proficient in reading and math than their nearest regular public school with a similar racial composition, a Harvard University study found.
"In states where charter schools are well-established, charter school as students' advantage in proficiency tends to be greater," economics researcher Caroline M. Hoxby concluded.
The study, just completed, compared test scores of 46,000 charter school students in 20 states and the District — almost every student attending the special schools with fewer restrictions than traditional public schools.
More than two-thirds of charter students were found to perform better in reading and math and to have a significant achievement advantage over students in the nearest regular public school.
"In the District of Columbia, where 11.3 percent of students are enrolled in charter schools — by far the highest percentage of any state — the charter school advantage is large," the report said. "There, fourth-grade charter students' advantage is 35 percent or more in both reading and math."
In California, which had 11,231 students enrolled in 199 charters, the largest number of any state, the proficiency advantage over nearby regular public schools was about 8 percent in reading and 3 percent in math.
In Arizona, with 108 charter schools, the proficiency advantage for fourth-graders was 7 percent in both. In Colorado, charter students perform 11 percent better................
Last month, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) issued a report based on a sample of 3 percent of charter students that concluded their performance was below that of regular public school students.
The AFT report was criticized as "flawed" by Education Secretary Rod Paige, who said the public school union failed to compare the students' reading and math proficiency before enrolling in charter schools with their academic progress since.
Miss Hoxby, an expert on the economics of school choice with the National Bureau of Economic Research, said the AFT study was "junk research" and "misleading." Because charter schools enroll only 1.5 percent of students in America, she said a 3 percent sample amounted to only four fourth-graders in Connecticut charter schools, 14 in the District, 32 in New York, and 38 in New Jersey.
"A state's charter school policy cannot be evaluated using the equivalent of one or two classrooms of students," she said. "This study uses assessment data on 99 percent of fourth-graders enrolled in charter schools, except that fifth- or third-graders are used in states that do not test fourth-graders. ...

Look for more screaming from the teachers unions
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"...quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est." [...a sword never kills anybody; it's a tool in the killer's hand.]
(from Lucius Annaeus Seneca, "the Younger," circa 4 BC-65 AD

Maybe, but one factor that totally seems to be missed is family dynamics. Who are the people sending their kids to charter schools. It may be that the people sending their kids to charter schools are the ones that want their kids to get the best education, stress education at home and spend time reviewing homework and such. So these education oriented families produce kids that test better.

So it may not be the schools at all, but the social dynamics of who sends their kids to charter schools. Which means that if all the "regular" school kids all just changed schools, there would be no difference, or even worse.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/...2847-5968r.htm

Seems the school teachers in public schools themselves are the ones sendding their kids. Now what dose THAT tell you?!

More than 25 percent of public school teachers in Washington and Baltimore send their children to private schools, a new study reports.
Nationwide, public school teachers are almost twice as likely as other parents to choose private schools for their own children, the study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found. More than 1 in 5 public school teachers said their children attend private schools.
In Washington (28 percent), Baltimore (35 percent) and 16 other major cities, the figure is more than 1 in 4. In some cities, nearly half of the children of public school teachers have abandoned public schools.

Public school teachers told the Fordham Institute's surveyors that private and religious schools impose greater discipline, achieve higher academic achievement and offer overall a better atmosphere.

"Teachers, it is reasonable to assume, care about education, are reasonably expert about it and possess quite a lot of information about the schools in which they teach. We can assume that no one knows the condition and quality of public schools better than teachers who work in them every day."
"They know from personal experience that many of their colleagues make such a choice [for private vs. public schools], and do so for good and sufficient reasons."
The report says the school choice movement has begun competitively forcing public school improvement, particularly in cities like Milwaukee, called "a hotbed of school reform," where 29.4 percent of public school teachers sent their children to private schools, the study finds.

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"...quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est." [...a sword never kills anybody; it's a tool in the killer's hand.]
(from Lucius Annaeus Seneca, "the Younger," circa 4 BC-65 AD

"The vast majority of children attending the nation's 1,146 charter schools with at least 10 students are more proficient in reading and math than their nearest regular public school with a similar racial composition, a Harvard University study found. "

the 10 students part should have given you a clue. (But you probably went to a private school because public schools are taught by terrorists.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20...4255-3028r.htm

Try readding. I know the government schools dont help much there but try anyway instead of making a fool of yourself with personal insults as inteligent responses.

"In California, which had 11,231 students enrolled in 199 charters,"
lets see, that a bit over 54 kids a class."

"Student performance in charter schools was significantly lower than regular nearby schools in just five states with about 30 percent of national charter enrollment, mostly minority children from poor families.
Those states were Michigan and North Carolina, where charter school performance was three to four percentage points lower, and New York, Ohio, and Texas, where performance was 8.7 to 11.4 points lower. The five states had 15,086 children in 371 charter schools. "


thats about 40 kids per class.

Sorry but focusing on 10 at the expense of the others will not work.

Try readding the rest of it please and look at why the TEACHERS say they suceed.

__________________
"...quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est." [...a sword never kills anybody; it's a tool in the killer's hand.]
(from Lucius Annaeus Seneca, "the Younger," circa 4 BC-65 AD

the numbers are per SCHOOL not per CLASS


"11,231 students enrolled in 199 charters" is over 54 per Charter School not class

"The five states had 15,086 children in 371 charter schools" is 40 per Charter School not class

how many public school only have 40-54 kids in them?

Try again.

Yeah Sedy!!! Genius!!! Lets scrap the whole federal education system and send everyone to charter schools !!! Oh wait, not many people can afford charter schools......Oh well, screw the middle class and poor, people we dont need em, right? Stupid lazy people and their kids, they dont need an education

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They and vouchers would be cheaper if privatized and you government folks know it.

You are already screwing the poor and midle class and everyone else with the government monopoly that is no where supported in teh constitution.

__________________
"...quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est." [...a sword never kills anybody; it's a tool in the killer's hand.]
(from Lucius Annaeus Seneca, "the Younger," circa 4 BC-65 AD

No wonder charter schools are doing better- in OHIO, all the funds for public schools are being cut and sent to the charter schools and school voucher experiments! What is the purpose of having a public school system is my question? This is absolutely rediculous. No wonder Ohio is in a budget deficit, they have failed to adequately and equally fund Ohio's schools (DeRolph v. State) and are spending additional funds on more schools. Let's fix the problem instead of adding to it. These lawmakers are really pissing me off. Walk a mile in a public school teacher's shoes before you ever call the teacher's union a "terrorist organization" Mr. Rod Paige- former education secy. Let's leave every child behind, after all we dont want to fund terrorism!

I hate to break it to you, but that was pretty much what I was gonna say. The schools are not necessarily better, the students are. Find a school where 80% of the parents have some form of higher education and it will beat the pants off a school where the opposite is true. Teachers certainly can make a difference. But, there are bad and good teachers in every school.

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