National Center for Education Statistics
December 2004
Two important new charter-school studies came out this week, though each is in part the reprise of an earlier one. (Click below for our review of the second.) You will recall the brouhaha in August when the AFT accused NCES of withholding the results of the NAEP pilot charter school study? This week, at a lively seminar, NCES released its "official" report on these data and its analysis of what they show. From it, we learn once again that 4th grade charter-school achievement in 2003 was not quite as high as that of their traditional public school counterparts. When you disaggregate the data by characteristics such as race, however - NCES Associate Commissioner Peggy Carr advises that "fairer comparisons are between students who share a common characteristic" - there is no statistically significant difference. As before, this analysis is limited to what a single test "snapshot" can show, with no sense of trend lines, value added or gains (or losses) over time. There's not much here for charter advocates to celebrate, but neither is this report any cause for despair. Even the AFT's Howard Nelson says "It's a draw." To read the report and delve into the data, click here.
"Snapshot v. the big picture," CER Press Release, December 15, 2004