Boston’s public charter schools have received much media attention for their positive impact on student achievement due to numerous high-quality research studies showing that charter schools outperform their traditional public school counterparts.
Earlier this year, a study released by CREDO found that for each year students attended a public charter school in Boston, they gained an entire additional year of learning in both math and reading when compared with similar students in traditional public schools. The Boston Foundation (TBF) has funded a series of reports on charter school performance and instructional practices in Boston. Their first study, in 2009, found significant achievement impacts for middle and high schools students attending public charter schools. Remarkably, middle school gains in mathematics cut the black-white achievement gap in half. Academic achievement in Boston charter schools also goes beyond math and reading gains. In May 2013, TBF released a report on secondary outcomes for students attending charter schools. The study found that students attending public charter schools not only do well on standardized tests, but are more likely to take and pass Advanced Placement (AP ) exams, receive higher SAT scores, and pass the Massachusetts high school exit exam required for graduation. Last week, TFB released a follow-up to the 2009 TBF achievement study. Once again, the study found significant gains in charter school student performance in math and reading for both middle and high school students. The study found that academic gains were largest for minority students, English language learners (ELL), and students who performed the lowest on baseline exams. Despite these great results, the study also found that these groups of students are the least likely to attend charter schools. Charter schools in the area serve a smaller percentage of English Language Learners (ELL) and students with disabilities than traditional Boston public schools, although the latter gap is shrinking. Access to ELL and special education services is a concern throughout the charter school movement, which is why the National Alliance has created toolkits to help charter schools better understand existing legal frameworks and best practices for providing these important services. TBF’s report also notes that access to high-quality schools remains a concern. Although the Massachusetts legislature has raised the cap on public charter schools in the state’s lowest-performing school districts in recognition of the tremendous impact public charter schools have on student performance, there still are not enough high-quality public charter schools to meet the demand from families throughout the state. Nora Kern is the senior manager of research at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
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