One of them is that these schools are not aimed at average children, but at specifically high risk children, who may either be disabled, or may be juvenile delinquents. This means that researchers would not be able to draw fair conclusions form their studies, because the performance levels of these children would be significantly lower than that of other children. (Apples to Apples: An Evaluation of Charter Schools Serving General Student Populations)
However, one method can be used to solve this problem, and this is that of using as a comparison base the test scores of students from a similar background from both the schools. Therefore, in a study conducted to measure the performance levels of students from both public as well as from charter schools, while taking similar populations of students for the study, it was found that, over a one year period form the time of the implementation of the charter school system, charter schools that were serving the general population were exhibiting better and higher performance levels of students from their schools, as compared to those from public schools. For example, on math tests, the charter school students outperformed their counterparts by a test score of 0.08 of standard deviation, and this was the equal to a benefit of 3 percentile points for a student who begins at the 50th percentile.
When it came to testing for reading skills, it was discovered that students in charter schools were able to once again outperform the students from public schools by a 0.04 standard deviation, which was equal to the benefit of 2 percentile points for a student starting at the 50th percentile. In charter schools in Texas, it was found that students had in fact been improving gradually but steadily in their performance levels in math, as seen in 0.18 standard deviations higher than those that were found in public schools, while where reading scores were concerned, they were 0.19 standard deviations higher than that of the students of public schools. In Florida too, charter schools showed a year to year improvement in math and in reading skills, of 0.15 standard deviations greater than those of public schools, equivalent to a gain of 6 percentile points for a student starting at the 50th percentile. (Apples to...
This has in fact given rise to another innovative concept, which is that of a charter district, whereby school districts may be composed largely of either charter or of contract schools. Perhaps this idea too will catch on, and charter schools become more widely recognized and accepted as a direct result. (Charter School Districts)
References
Apples to Apples: An Evaluation of Charter Schools Serving General Student Populations.
Education Working Paper. No: 1.July, 2003. Retrieved From http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_01.htm Accessed 21 October, 2005
Charter school laws and partnerships, expanding opportunities and resources. April, 2004.
Retrieved From http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/51/12/5112.doc
Accessed 20 October, 2005
Charter Schools. Retrieved From
http://www.ncspe.org/publications_files/Charter%20Schools-FAQ.pdf
Accessed 20 October, 2005
Definitions of Charter Schools on the Web. Retrieved From
http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en& lr=& oi=defmore& defl=en& q=define:Charter+Schools Accessed 20 October, 2005
Frankenberg, Erica; Lee, Chungmei. Charter Schools and Race, a lost opportunity for integrated education. 10 July, 2002. Retrieved From
http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/deseg/CharterSchools.php Accessed 21 October, 2005
Paul. Hill. T. Charter School Districts. Backgrounder. May 16, 2001. Retrieved From
http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110& subsecID=134& contentID=3365 Accessed 20 October, 2005
Roy, Joydeep; Mishel, Lawrence. Advantage none, re-examining Hoxby's findings of Charter
School Benefits. EPI Briefing Paper. No: 158. 15 April, 2005. Retrieved From
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/bp158 Accessed 20 October, 2005
