New Study finds Average Test Scores for Middle Schoolers at Network-run Charter Schools Not Significantly Different than Public Schools

There was another study released this month that showed that, counter to public beliefs, the average test scores at charter schools run as a network (multiple charter schools run by the same management company, such as the KIPP and SEED schools featured in Waiting For Superman) is not statistically different than the averages at typical public schools.

But, as is so often the case with statistics, that statement obscures what is really happening.  Among the 22 schools in the study, close to half had test scores in reading and math were higher than the norm for regular public schools.  But about another third had test scores in those subjects that were significantly worse than public schools, with the remainder on par with the schools.

So, that means that taken as a whole, charter schools aren't doing any better than public schools.  If your child goes to any individual charter school, though, there is a good chance that it will outperform the average public school.  However, there is also a fair chance that it will do worse that its typical neighbors.

Once again, I don't mean to bad mouth charter schools; some are obviously doing an exemplary job, such as Raleigh Charter School here in our area.  However, parents need to know that charter schools are not the panacea that many educational reformers make them out to be.  Charter schools are experiments, and like all experiments, some will work out well, while others will be a failure.  There are a high percentage of these network-run schools that even though they have all the things these reformers want--longer class hours, performance-based payment for teachers, etc.--they have lower test scores than the average middle school

If you want to see the report, which was done by Mathematica Policy Research and the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) at the University of Washington, you can access it here.

First Anniversary!

Speaking of looking back.....

Today is the last day of the first year of the Teaching Your Middle Schooler blog.  When I started this blog on September 7, 2010 (with that memorable post of  Are Bella and Edward LITERALLY Warping Your Adolescent's Brain?,  foreshadowing a much more famous debate on this issue in the New York Times),  my motivation to actually do it (as opposed to however many years I had been TALKING about doing it) was that I wanted my son to start a blog as a means of getting him to write regularly, and I didn't think I should ask him to do it if I weren't willing to do it myself.

However, I had another goal for myself.  I really wanted to see if I could go for an entire year and actually write something on my blog every day for all 365 days.   And I'm glad to say that I did it!  Even over holidays and long field trip days and hurricane days and vacation days, I managed to post something every day for the past year.  In fact, it turns out that tonight's is my 391st post, so for a number of days, I even managed to post twice!

Perhaps even more exciting than the fact I actually did what I set out to do is the fact that so many of you all were willing to check out what I had to say.  As of tonight, we have had 17,257 page views from people outside our household, which I think is incredible.  I don't know how many unique visitors that is, but it has to be a bunch more than I ever thought would be interested in what I had to say.  Just over one quarter of those were from other countries, which I found really wonderful.  Again, I don't have a count of how many different countries visited my blog, but I know it was a bunch.  Yes, the biggest numbers have come from other English-speaking countries (UK, Canada, and Australia), but we've had visitors from every continent except Antarctica, and all sorts of different countries--big ones, small ones, technology-advanced ones, and technology-deprived ones.  I've had visitors from countries that I had to look up because I didn't know where they were, and I'm NOT one of those geography-deprived Americans who don't know where anything is.

So it has been thrilling to see the visits, and, really, an honor to share my thoughts with you all.  Thank you so much for coming and checking me out.

I also have to acknowledge my 12 year old son, who has also really stuck to his blog.  He never had a personal goal to write every day, but did most days, and has accumulated 369 posts.  So, to use one of his favorite expressions, Huzzah for him!

So I may not be quite so obsessed about writing every day this year as I was for the last one.  But I will continue to share my thoughts, resources, lesson plans, curriculum links, and opinions about education as it relates to our (roughly) 11-14 year olds.

So I hope you all will continue to visit as we launch into Year 2.