The Arizona Republic allows people to post comments in response to columns. Because they help illuminate what’s going on at the 10th grade in Arizona charter schools when reading, math and writing take a nose dive, I include these as well.
-Angela
Charters' 10th-grade scores still below par
Districts remain ahead on AIMS
Anne Ryman, Pat Kossan and Matt Dempsey
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 13, 2006 12:00 AM
It's the mystery of the charter-school phenomenon.
In almost every grade through middle school, Arizona charter students perform about as well as district-school ones on the AIMS test.
But starting in 10th grade, something happens. The percentage of charter students who pass AIMS math, reading and writing plunges, clouding the reputation of the 11-year-old charter industry.
It happened again this year.
Although charter-school sophomores improved their scores over the past year, only 40 percent passed the AIMS math section, compared with 72 percent at district schools. Charter sophomores also lagged their district counterparts significantly in reading and writing.
One exception was some college-prep charters, which attract top students and have a record of high passing rates.
The high school drop, alarming because students now must pass AIMS to graduate, could spill into view when the state begins this fall to crack down on poorly performing charter schools. This is the first year charter schools could wind up on the state's failing-schools list, based largely on Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards results. Up to 14 schools, including nine that teach high school students, could make the list and face possible closure.
No one knows exactly why charter-school sophomores score lower on AIMS. But experts point to several factors that could create the problem.
Charter high schools take in greater shares of struggling students: Although a district high school serves all kinds of kids, Arizona's charter high schools tend to specialize in either college prep or as a catch-up for students who have fallen behind.
"We see a lot of both ends of the spectrum," said Kristen Jordison, executive director of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools.
A report presented to the board this week concluded that Arizona students transferring from districts to charters have lower levels of academic achievement than other students, which means they are harder to educate. The study, by Arizona State University Assistant Professor David Garcia and the charter board's staff, looked at 390,000 students in Grades 2 through 8.
For example, most of the 78 students who attend the year-old Esperanza Community Collegial Academy in Phoenix transferred from district schools, co-founder Pamela Cullen said. They are struggling with low grades, and some are considering dropping out.
None of the sophomores passed math or reading, and 94 percent still need to pass writing. Cullen isn't giving up. Most students were close to passing, and the school will provide free tutoring before the next round of tests in the fall.
"I think it will be a better picture next year," she said.
Charters lack district-school resources: Many charter schools operate as stand-alone schools, while districts have full research units that give teachers up-to-the minute data on how each child is performing. This becomes critical in high school where it often is harder to turn a student's performance around.
Charters have long been allowed more freedom in what was taught and how it was taught. Now, federal and state laws are requiring all schools, including charters, to meet minimum standards for every grade.
Many charter schools find themselves running to catch up and rework their curriculum, said Bruce Fuller, professor of education and policy at the University of California-Berkeley.
"Charter educators' feet are being held to the fire now," Fuller said.
Charters have fewer licensed teachers: For years, charter teachers didn't even need a bachelor's degree. Now, the federal No Child Left Behind Act requires that teachers have a degree and expertise in the subject they teach.
But unlike district schools, charter teachers still don't need to be licensed by the state. The Arizona Education Association has long pushed for this to change, arguing that licensed, or certified, teachers have special training in helping kids learn.
Fuller said charter schools nationally have more teachers who are not licensed and, on average, have seven fewer years of experience than those in district schools. In high school, teaching quality is critical, especially for complex science and math.
Jay Heiler, board president of Great Hearts Academy Preparatory Academies, doesn't worry about hiring licensed teachers but looks for teachers who are "steeped in liberal-arts knowledge" and passionate about "lighting the fire of learning in teenagers."
Great Hearts' three schools have a large percentage of students passing AIMS.
"Some of our finest teachers come from other walks of life," he said.
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Your comments
I went to a charter school and the problem with it was that some of the teachers ended up getting really lazy towards mid-year. The, you would also have alot of these talkative people in the class, which hepled contribute to the lack of the instructors attention. (Distraught3468, July 13, 2006 09:16AM)
I find it amazing that 72% of public school sophomores passed the math section of the AIMS assessment. AIMS is supposed to be an “exit” proficiency assessment. How can students who have not necessarily taken algebra 2, geometry, trigonometry,---not to mention pre-calculus-- pass the 12th grade exit assessment. AIMS serves as the benchmark standard for student proficiency in the state of Arizona—I never realized just how smart all these kids are! (Mark8438, July 13, 2006 12:41PM)
What is happing in charter schools is that they have become a corporations not an educational institute. They only want student for the money not to educate. Most students who attend charter schools are consider at-risk students who have droped out of public school or fallen behind for one reason or another. Charter schools are funded by the state yet the students have no resources no books but owners of the charters schools are increasing their bank account. It has been my experience that owners of most charter schools don't care about the student just the money that they get. The state and board of educations needs to have more control over the monies that these schools get. They receive grant monies for programs they don't even or either they don't continue with the program or don't even start them. Student are not benifiting from going to a charter school. I have taught in several different charter schools and I really believe these student could pass if they had the resources they needed to be successful. If a school is getting all of this money and a child doesn't have a book to learn from or any other learning materials that should be provided from the school what chance do they have. And to add online charter high school should not even be allowed!
(Donna8080, July 13, 2006 03:55PM)
Well, like any enterprise, there are good and bad charter schools, just as there are good and bad traditional public schools. Unfortunately, the charter school bias espoused by the traditional schools, has caused the public to form a false opinion of the entire process. Charter schools, as we should recall, came about due to parent dissatisfaction with the status quo of the public schools. I would argue that charter school oversight is not what it should be, but nevertheless, charters fill a void in our educational process. Many parents choose this option out of frustration and anger at bullying, poor policy enforcement, dangerous conditions, or failing schools. Others would like a more personalized atmosphere, school uniforms, and more focus for either at risk or accellerated students, both categories who go largely ignored, despite the lip service paid to remediation programs and gifted offerings. I am the Principal of a Charter High School for at risk youth, many of whom are involved in the Juvenile Justice system. In fact, we are sponosored by, and co-located with, the Juvenile Court in our county. Our students come from all walks of life, and at all stages in their education. These students have truancy issues, gang issues, drug invovlement, teen parenting, and rampant conduct disorder issues that have left them on the outside of the mainstream student body. Many have been dropped, dropped out, or simply tuned out the whole educational process. Most are 16 and over. When they come to us, their reading levels scrape the bottom of 4th-5th grade. Their math skills are frozen at the same level in many cases. Can we turn that around? We certainly try. We don't give students packet work, and we require uniforms. e have 112 students in our school, and in the years that schools have been labeled through AZLEARNS, our school has always made AYP, and been a Performing School. Our rate of passage on AIMS steadily increases, and our students continue to improve their scores. If any school should be failing, it should be ours...but we aren't. I believe it is because we have certified faculty who genuinely care about the success of these students, and we are very persistent. We do not allow these students to give up on themselves, because we never give up on them.
We may not end up with huge graduating classes..that is a lot to ask. But I tell my staff, and everyone who will listen, my thoughts: Is society better served by dismissing these students, or is it better served by pushing them to achieve as much as they possibly can, even if they eventually leave before graduating? The majority of my students now are 17 and older...and yet they keep returning to us, and they keep on working. Many of them will never graduate, but all of them will have gotten our full attention, something that did not happen in their previous schools. We fill a niche, and we serve a serious need. My greatest fear is that the state will force Charter schools to become like traditional public schools. Then where will my students go? (3736, July 14, 2006 02:14PM)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0713aimscharters0713.html
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