REGULAR DCPS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OUT-PERFORM THEIR CHARTER SCHOOL COUNTERPARTS -- Situation Almost Exactly Reversed at the Secondary Level
By: Guy Brandenburg, retired DCPS mathematics teacher
The results from last year’s DC-CAS flatly contradict the media-spread ‘wisdom’ that public charter schools always do better than regular urban public schools.
In fact, regular DC public elementary schools out-performed the charter schools on the 2009 DC-CAS in 11 out of 14 categories. Strangely, at the secondary level, the results were almost exactly the opposite: in 12 out of 14 categories, the secondary charter school students scored higher.
These results come from a mathematically simple, but tedious, calculation of the averages of the percentages of students in the various subgroups who were deemed 'proficient' based on their scores on last spring's version of the DC-CAS (Comprehensive Assessment System) exam, which is taken by all DC public and charter school students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 under the No Child Left Behind act, or NCLB. The computations were done by this writer by cutting and pasting the data into several Excel spreadsheets, separating the regular and charter schools, and taking averages of the averages provided for each group given in the data on-line.
On the elementary level, the regular public school students outscored the charter school students in the following eleven categories:
- In both math and reading, the entire schools in question (about 48% versus 38% in math, and 48% to 45% in reading);
- In both math and reading, among the economically disadvantaged (meaning, those eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches), by about 43% to 37% for math, and 43% to 42% in reading;
- In reading only, among the educationally disabled (also known as special education students) by a score of 32% to 26%;
- In both math and reading among LEP-NEP students (that is, students with limited or no proficiency in the English language), by scores of 55% to 48% in math, and 47% to 43% in reading;
- In both math and reading among black students, by scores of 46% to 37% in math, and 47% to 45% in reading; and
- In both math and reading among white students, by scores of 93% to 85% in math, and 92% to 91% in reading.
The only three categories where elementary charter school students did better were these:
- In math only, among special education students, by a score of 29% to 28%; and
- In both math and reading among Hispanic students, by scores of 56% to 53% in math, and 49% to 47% in reading.
On the secondary level, the situation was almost exactly reversed.
Students in the public charter schools did better than those in the regular public schools in the following twelve sub-categories:
- In both math and reading for the entire schools in question (46% to 41% in math, and 49% to 42% in reading);
- In both math and reading among those eligible for free or reduced-price lunches (45% to 40% in math, and 47% to 39% in reading);
- In both math and reading among the special education students (32% to 14% in math, and 21% to 16% in reading);
- In both math and reading among students just now learning English (43% to 40% in math, and 37% to 31% in reading);
- In both math and reading among African-Americans (46% to 38% in math, and 49% to 41% in reading); and
- In both math and English among students of Latino or Hispanic origin (54% to 50% in math, and 47% to 44% in reading).
Curiously, the only two sub-groups in which students did better in the regular secondary schools were both math and reading among white students, by scores of 92.9% to 92.7% in math, and 95.1% to 93.8% in reading.
The raw data can be found at http://www.nclb.osse.dc.gov/ and by then clicking on the various buttons on that page.
It should be noted that the rules determining whether a school is considered to be secondary or elementary, or whether a group of students are to be counted at all, are not exactly straightforward. A school is considered to be elementary if it contains either a 3rd or a 5th grade. And, if it goes above the 6th grade and still has a 3rd grade, then it remains an elementary school. For it to be considered secondary, a school needs to contain one or more grades above the 6th grade, but no 3rd grade. If sub-group of students has fewer than 25 students, it is not counted – but there are exceptions for students with limited or no proficiency in English. And, yes, some students might be counted in several different groups. For example, a student whose family is poor enough to qualify for free or reduced lunch, with a Spanish surname, and who has a diagnosed learning disability because of hearing loss, might be counted in as many as eight subgroups or as few as none, depending on whether the subgroups have enough students in them or not. Remember, there is both math and reading, and there some extremely small schools in the list who appear to have not enough students for any sub-groups ay all. (Got that?)
All of the percentages given indicate the portion of the students in each group or subgroup who scored at the “advanced” or “proficient” level on the various tests. Keep in mind that one subgroup at one school might have only 25 students, whereas a different subgroup at the same school might have many hundreds.
The summary tables I computed are as follows. If you would like to see the five pages of Excel spreadsheets I made using the OSSE data, send me an email.
| Public Charter schools: Elementary | | |
| Math | | CATEGORY |
| 37.95% | 44.71% | |
| 36.62% | 41.93% | Economically Disadvantaged [F-RL] |
| 28.98% | 26.35% | Disabled [a.k.a. special education] |
| 47.76% | 42.70% | LEP/NEP {English as a second language] |
| 37.28% | 44.53% | Black students |
| 84.84% | 91.31% | White students |
| 55.75% | 48.86% | Hispanic students |
| Regular Elementary schools [DCPS] | | |
| Math | | CATEGORY |
| 48.34% | 48.84% | |
| 42.97% | 43.25% | Economically Disadvantaged [F-RL] |
| 28.14% | 31.63% | Disabled [a.k.a. special education] |
| 55.28% | 47.26% | LEP/NEP {English as a second language] |
| 45.55% | 46.91% | Black students |
| 92.60% | 92.46% | White students |
| 53.23% | 46.56% | Hispanic students |
| Public Charter schools Secondary | | |
| Math | | CATEGORY |
| 46.26% | 48.75% | |
| 44.66% | 46.97% | Economically Disadvantaged [F-RL] |
| 31.62% | 21.06% | Disabled [a.k.a. special education] |
| 43.04% | 36.09% | LEP/NEP {English as a second language] |
| 45.65% | 48.53% | Black students |
| 92.71% | 93.75% | White students |
| 53.85% | 47.88% | Hispanic students |
| Regular Secondary Schools [DCPS] | | |
| Math | | CATEGORY |
| 40.63% | 41.98% | |
| 39.75% | 38.87% | Economically Disadvantaged [F-RL] |
| 13.81% | 15.68% | Disabled [a.k.a. special education] |
| 39.60% | 31.04% | LEP/NEP {English as a second language] |
| 38.37% | 40.71% | Black students |
| 92.90% | 95.10% | White students |
| 49.99% | 44.43% | Hispanic students |
-end-
2 comments:
Someone will remember in four or five years that I said MOST, not all, charter schools will be closed. Because they don't know what they're doing. Despite all the hype.
It is of interest that none of the former Catholic schools which converted to charter schools scored high on the test. Not one of the seven schools made ayp. Some of the scores were in fact very low for the Center City Public Charter Schools. One wonders what those people are doing in those schools. It looks like the Catholic Church dumped some low scoring schools on the District of Columbia.
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