Wauwatosa, Wis. A new report by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Library released today shows independent public charter schools outperform traditional public schools in student growth and achievement gap scores, reaffirming the need for more public charter schools in the state.
In the study, the authors find that the overall student growth score for independent public charter schools was 5.9 points higher than for traditional public schools (which were at 62.7 points). Another key finding in the report was the overall score for closing gaps, a measure that evaluates the year-over-year rate of change in student achievement and graduation. Independent public charters scored 12.5 points higher on the overall closing gaps score as compared to traditional public schools (which were at 70.8 points).
“The findings in this report are a testament to the strong performance of independent public charter schools in Wisconsin, which, today, are primarily limited to Milwaukee. There is an opportunity to expand high-quality charter schools across the state to help close the achievement gaps for disadvantaged students,” said Kristy Casey, director of the Wisconsin Coalition for Public Charter Schools.
The report also found that public charter schools authorized by school districts, both instrumentality and non-instrumentality, scored significantly higher than traditional public schools on student growth measures.
“We urge our legislators to offer more public school options to the families of Wisconsin by allowing the expansion of independent charter schools throughout the state. Improving the states public charter school law will lead to the creation of effective charter schools in the Badger State, improving the quality of education for all children,” Casey said.
The Wisconsin Coalition for Public Charter Schools is a collaboration of organizations that support the growth of high-quality public charter schools in Wisconsin.
