Charter Schools Research Articles

Barriers to Identifying Learning Disabilities: A Qualitative Study of Clinicians and Educators.

The estimated prevalence of learning disabilities (LDs) is nearly 8% of all children. Fewer than 5% of all children are diagnosed in public schools, jeopardizing remediation. We aimed to identify barriers affecting front-line child-facing professionals in detecting LDs in school-aged children. We conducted a qualitative study with individual interviews of 40 professionals from different areas of the United States identified through theoretical sampling (20 educators, 10 pediatricians, and 10 child mental health clinicians). Clinicians represented academic and community settings, and educators represented public, private, and charter schools. Twenty had expertise in assessing LDs; 20 were generalists without specific training. We also endeavored to maximize representation across age, gender, race and ethnicity, and location. We analyzed transcripts utilizing grounded theory and identified themes reflecting barriers to detection. Themes and sub-themes included: 1) areas requiring improved professional education (misconceptions that may hinder detection, confounding factors that may mask LDs, and need for increasing engagement of parents or guardians in identifying LDs) and 2) systemic barriers (time constraints that limited professionals' ability to advocate for children and to delve into their emotional experiences, inconsistent guidelines across institutions and inconsistent perceptions of professional responsibility for detection, and confusion surrounding screening tools and lack of screening by some professionals in the absence of overt problems). Clinicians and other child-facing professionals may benefit from augmented training in screening and identification and enhanced evidence-based and institutional guidance. These efforts could increase efficiency and perceived responsibility for recognition and improve earlier detection.

School Greenness and Student-Level Academic Performance: Evidence From the Global South.

Greenspace in schools might enhance students' academic performance. However, the literature-dominated by ecological studies at the school level in countries from the Northern Hemisphere-presents mixed evidence of a beneficial association. We evaluated the association between school greenness and student-level academic performance in Santiago, Chile, a capital city of the Global South. This cross-sectional study included 281,695 fourth-grade students attending 1,498 public, charter, and private schools in Santiago city between 2014 and 2018. Student-level academic performance was assessed using standardized test scores and indicators of attainment of learning standards in mathematics and reading. School greenness was estimated using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Linear and generalized linear mixed-effects models were fit to evaluate associations, adjusting for individual- and school-level sociodemographic factors. Analyses were stratified by school type. In fully adjusted models, a 0.1 increase in school greenness was associated with higher test scores in mathematics (36.9 points, 95% CI: 2.49; 4.88) and in reading (1.84 points, 95% CI: 0.73; 2.95); as well as with higher odds of attaining learning standards in mathematics (OR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.12; 1.28) and reading (OR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02; 1.13). Stratified analysis showed differences by school type, with associations of greater magnitude and strength for students attending public schools. No significant associations were detected for students in private schools. Higher school greenness was associated with improved individual-level academic outcomes among elementary-aged students in a capital city in South America. Our results highlight the potential of greenness in the school environment to moderate educational and environmental inequalities in urban areas.

Use of Goal Attainment Scaling to Measure Educational and Rehabilitation Improvements in Children with Multiple Disabilities.

With a focus on children with multiple disabilities (CMD), the purpose of this quality improvement project was to elevate educational measurement and practices involving CMD. Using the goal attainment scaling (GAS) methodology, this project was conducted within a public charter school, Pattison's Academy for Comprehensive Education (PACE), focusing on 31 CMD and measuring student improvement and program effectiveness. For 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, improvements were demonstrated for the majority of CMD by meeting or exceeding their goals. Goal attainment scaling was able to capture improvement in educational and rehabilitation goals in the majority of CMD. Goal attainment scaling can provide an indication of a program's effectiveness. The use of GAS in CMD has potential to maximize participation across the school setting where all children in the United States commonly develop and learn skills as well as find meaning.

Demonstrating resilience in the face of adversity: an embedded phenomenological case study of the Magic City Acceptance Academy

Our research team explored a political campaign that targeted the Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA) as the ‘first transgender public school in the South’. Located near Birmingham, Alabama, MCAA opened in fall 2021 as one of the first LGBTQ + affirming charter schools in the United States. In spring 2022, gubernatorial candidate Tim James launched a series of negative TV and radio ads that defamed MCAA, ostensibly to generate votes from the ultra-conservate right wing of the Republican party. Our team conducted an embedded case study of the Tim James campaign as part of a multifaceted phenomenological case study of MCAA. We drew data from media coverage, key informant interviews, and a student focus group. Study findings revealed three themes: concerns for student safety, community support, and unanticipated benefits. Findings further suggested that Tim James’ overt heterosexist actions inherently endorsed binary framings of sexuality and gender, which served his political interests and sought to normalize and privilege cisnormativity and heterosexuality while marginalizing and excluding the needs of LGBTQ + students. The hate speech comprising James’ TV and radio ads reflects anti-LGBTQ + ideology and may serve as a preview of future campaigns that seek to demonize the LGBTQ + community for political gain.

The state takeover of the Camden City District schools and students’ academic performance: A descriptive analysis

ABSTRACT In March 2013, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced a state takeover of the Camden City School District. Under state control, state appointed superintendents assumed powers customarily held by the board of education and implemented substantial changes to the district, including closing eleven district schools, eliminating more than a thousand teaching and other positions, and shifting almost half of all district students to renaissance charter schools. We examine the changes in students’ standardized test scores before and after the state takeover and find mixed results. We also find evidence that test scores for some grades were improving several years before the state takeover and that positive gains in test scores in a few subjects/grades in the period following the state takeover were occurring across all low income schools in New Jersey, not just in Camden. We address why these findings are at odds with political leaders’ positive perceptions of the takeover.

Transportation Logics: How Charter School Leaders Make Choices about Student Transportation

Transportation Logics: How Charter School Leaders Make Choices about Student Transportation

Student-Teacher Ethnoracial Matching at Charter and Traditional Public Schools

ABSTRACT Using classroom-level data from nearly all California schools, we investigate whether Hispanic, Asian, Black, and Native students in grades K-5 are more likely to have a teacher of the same race at charter schools or traditional public schools in 2017-18, what school and student characteristics explain these differences, and how ethnoracial matching rates changed since 2012-13. Hispanic and Black students experience greater rates of ethnoracial matching at charter schools, whereas Asian and Native students experience greater match rates at traditional public schools. Having a same-race principal is a strong predictor of student-teacher ethnoracial match in many models. Since 2012-13, ethnoracial matching increased for Hispanic and Asian students, decreased for Black students, and remained stable for Native students. These findings are important given the benefits of exposure to teachers of the same ethnoracial identity and number of students of color in charter schools.

Exploring Charter School Innovation: A Comparison of Popular Charter School Models

ABSTRACT This paper expands on previous work on charter school typology and presents disparities in standardized test outcomes across models by using standardized Z-Scores weighted by NAEP performance. Analyses indicate that in ELA, Classical schools have the highest relative performance, followed by Montessori and Art schools. In math, Classical schools once again have the highest relative performance, followed by Montessori and STEM schools. For reasons discussed in the paper it is premature to posit causality, so the results should instead be viewed as descriptive. We suggest a more pluralistic testing framework may be appropriate when evaluating the performance of specialized schools.

A phenomenological study exploring white teachers’ potential for cross-cultural talent recognition within charter and magnet schools

ABSTRACT Research in urban and gifted education has often highlighted the underrepresentation of certain student groups in gifted programs due to factors such as insufficient teacher training and educational quality. However, a significant factor contributing to this underrepresentation is teacher bias. There's a noted tendency of teachers to under-refer Black and Brown students while more easily identifying giftedness in White students. The impact of teacher bias on the identification process, especially against Black and Brown students, is a known challenge. There is limited research on culturally competent teachers who challenge their biases. This pilot study seeks to fill the research gap by exploring the contributions of White teachers who informally identify gifted Black and Brown students in schools without formal gifted identification processes, or where all students are considered gifted. This study delves into these teachers' cultural backgrounds, experiences, and attitudes to understand how they recognize talent in underrepresented groups.

Passive Investment: The Political Dynamics of Charter Expansion in Los Angeles’ Portfolio District

Since the 1990s, charter schools have spread rapidly across the nation. The replication and expansion of charter schools has become a common feature of the portfolio management model which situates the district as strategic manager of a choice-based system including traditional and charter schools. Yet, many school districts have experienced substantial political, logistical, and technical challenges in managing and “right-sizing” the charter sectors in their communities. The Los Angeles Unified School District presents a strategic case to examine the challenges of charter expansion in a portfolio management model district. Using a micropolitical lens, we examine how political tensions over charter schools in Los Angeles affected one expanding charter network in LAUSD. This 3-year case study draws on interviews and focus groups with 48 charter leaders, teachers, and parents. We find that broader political tensions over charter schools in Los Angeles affected the network in material ways that challenge important assumptions of the functioning of LAUSD’s portfolio model. Specifically, we find that political tensions between the network and the district challenge a central assumption of the portfolio approach: namely, that the portfolio district can effectively operate as a neutral manager optimizing performance across schools in the portfolio. These political tensions also affected how this charter network managed instructional practice and parent engagement. This analysis offers important dimensionality to our understanding of organizational responses in portfolio district settings.

Standing in the Gap: Middle Level Music Learning in the United States and Its Territories

Abstract All students deserve access to quality music education and qualified music teachers prepared to teach them; however, there are some gaps in the field's knowledge of how all students across the United States are served in music education. One such knowledge gap is focused on middle level (fifth through eighth grade) music learning, a critical period in both student and program development. This national survey aimed to understand the status of middle level music education at public and public charter schools throughout the United States and its territories during the 2020–2021 school year. Of the 2,749 responding schools, 29.52% offered no middle level music learning opportunities while schools offering music learning reported an increase in choral experiences and a decrease in general music and orchestral experiences as students move from fifth to eighth grade. More than 80% of the responding music teachers identified as White and more than 60% identified as women. In addition, more than three fourths reported feeling underprepared for middle level music teaching. Our findings present a national portrait of available music learning opportunities, music teacher demographics, and music teacher perceived preparation for fifth through eighth grade. While hopeful for many school communities across the country, our findings also raise important questions for future research and for the preservice and in-service preparation of middle level music educators.

P24-045-23 Challenges and Innovations in School Feeding Programs During COVID-19 in a Disaggregated Charter School System, New Orleans, Louisiana

P24-045-23 Challenges and Innovations in School Feeding Programs During COVID-19 in a Disaggregated Charter School System, New Orleans, Louisiana

Parental Occupation, Social Class, and School Choice in Southern Philippines: Their Implications to Educational Public-Private Partnership vis-à-vis the K-12 SHS Voucher Program

This study explores the education inequality brought about by senior high school (SHS) choice of families in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines, considering a nonmonetary approach to social class based on parental occupation. Furthermore, it underscores implications for educational public-private partnership (EPPP) regarding the K-12 SHS Voucher Program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). We used the explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, wherein quantitative research is complemented by qualitative research. A survey of family education, parental (breadwinner) occupation, and SHS school choice was conducted among Grade 12 public, private, and charter schools students. Data analysis considered social status, power of school choice, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) government. Results showed more SHS participation from the middle class. Although the charter SHS entails social cohesion, overall findings suggest student segregation in the municipality, considering the public and private SHSs student compositions. As such, there is education inefficiency and inequity, revealing EPPP inefficiency. Based on document analysis, a complementary method, these education inequality issues are attributed to the partial implementation of ARMM regional autonomy posing constraints to government service delivery and compounding poverty. Therefore, government support and regional mechanisms to strengthen capability and accountability are recommended to enhance the state capacity and service delivery in BARMM, Philippines.

Strategic Planning Competences for Charter Schools Leaders in Saudi Arabia

هدفت هذه الدراسة إلى تسليط الضوء على كفايات التخطيط الاستراتيجي لمدراء المدارس المستقلة. واستخدمت الباحثتان المنهج الوصفي (النظري) وذلك عن طريق تحليل الأدب التربوي المرتبط بمتغيرات الدراسة وهما كفايات التخطيط الاستراتيجي والإدارة المدرسية. وذلك بالرجوع إلى الأدبيات التي تناولت كفايات قائد المدرسة، والمدارس المستقلة، وكفايات التخطيط الاستراتيجي كمصادر للاشتقاق. وقد تم بناء قائمة كفايات التخطيط الاستراتيجي لمدراء المدارس المستقلة ضمن أربعة محاور أساسية وهي التفكير الاستراتيجي، التخطيط الاستراتيجي، تنفيذ الخطة الاستراتيجية، التقويم والمتابعة. ويتضمن كل محور منها على مجالين هما الكفايات المعرفية ويقصد بها الحد الأدنى من معارف ومهارات التخطيط الاستراتيجي الواجب توافرها لدى قائد المدرسة المستقلة، والكفايات الأدائية ويقصد بها الحد الأدنى من ممارسات التخطيط الاستراتيجي الواجب توافرها في قائد المدرسة وجاءت أبرز مقترحات البحث بضرورة اجراء المزيد من الدراسات التربوية المقارنة حول متغيرات المدارس العامة والمدارس المستقلة.

Contracting Whiteness: Charter Authorizing and the Erasure of Blackness in Southern Urban Spaces

This study examines the linkages between charter school board composition, proposed school models, and authorization outcomes in two majority Black cities in the initial years post-state takeover. Findings illuminate how approved applications overlapped with the following factors: majority White boards with affiliations to elite reform networks or non-educational professional backgrounds and “No Excuses” models. Using concepts from The Racial Contract ( Mills, 1997 ), this study evidences how application components work to socio-politically construct a proposed school as legible and show an underexplored mechanism by which power is consolidated during the authorization process in ways that limit local Black political power.

New Orleans' school meals distribution in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: operational details and geographic coverage.

To facilitate continuation of school feeding during COVID-19 school lockdowns, U.S. Congress authorized waivers to allow for school meals to be picked up by parents/guardians in non-school settings. We summarized school meals distribution and characterized reach in socially vulnerable neighborhoods in New Orleans, a city prone to environmental disasters, with a city-wide charter school system, and historically high levels of child poverty and food insecurity. School meals operations data were obtained from New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) Public Schools for 3/16/2020-5/31/2020. For each pick-up location, we estimated: average meals available (weekly), average meals served (weekly), number of weeks of operation, and rate of meal pick-up ([meals served/meals available]*100). These characteristics were mapped in QGIS v3.28.3, along with neighborhoods' Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Pearson correlation and ANOVA were run to assess differences between operations characteristics and neighborhood SVI. From 38 meal sites, 884,929 meals were available for pick-up; 74% of pick-up sites were in moderately/highly socially vulnerable areas. Correlations between average meals available and served, weeks of operation, rate of meal pick-up, and SVI were weak and not statistically significant. SVI was associated with average rate of meal pick-up but not other operations characteristics. Despite the disaggregated nature of the charter school system, NOLA Public Schools successfully pivoted to providing children with pick-up meals due to COVID-19 lockdowns, with 74% of sites located in socially vulnerable neighborhoods. Future studies should describe the types of meals provided to students during COVID-19, in terms of diet quality and nutrient adequacy.

Organizational Ecology's Contagion Growth Perspective in the Study of Standalone Charter Schools in New York City

This study aims to examine standalone charters in terms of organizational ecology's contagion growth that spread across New York City's neighborhoods from 2000 to 2007. Spatial autoregressive models and geographic information systems reveal that the density dependence that occurs from one standalone charter location to its nearby neighborhoods is associated with low commercial property values, renter-occupied housing units, African-American and Hispanic population, school-age children, and income measures. Among nonprofit types, education- and religious-related nonprofits appear to be among the most consistent significant variables. This study suggests that promising directions for future research centered on ecosystems of charter school growth are context-dependent.

Collective Bargaining Agreement Restrictiveness in Unionized Charter Schools

Although charter schools are frequently afforded flexibility from many state laws that govern traditional public schools, a growing number of charter school teachers have now unionized and introduced collective bargaining to the charter sector. Using data from a detailed content analysis of teacher CBAs from California, we compare the restrictiveness of CBAs in 75 unionized charter bargaining units to the restrictiveness of CBAs in 31 nearest neighbor traditional public school district bargaining units. We find that independent charter CBAs are much more flexible than the CBAs of traditional public school districts, but charter school CBAs of bargaining units combined with traditional public school districts are comparably restrictive.

“What Library?”

Although charter schools are a growing segment of the US education market, they are less likely than traditional public or private schools to have dedicated library facilities, staffing, or services. Currently there is little data about what services charter schools provide to support literacy, research, or technology skill building - services commonly provided by school libraries. Without these data it is unknown whether, how, or to what extent charter schools without school libraries ensure that their students have access to these crucial learning resources. This study collected data in 87 US based K-12 charter schools across 11 states using an online survey completed by school administrators. This survey addresses library services of charter schools both with and without school library facilities. The survey shows that most charters lack facilities and staffing to provide quality school library services. In charters that have a school library the data suggests the school benefits from more services to encourage reading for fun and information literacy instruction that can improve technology use and research skills. This study informs future research and advocacy for charter school libraries.

Choice and consequence: Assessing mismatch at Chicago exam schools

The educational mismatch hypothesis asserts that students are hurt by affirmative action policies placing them in selective schools for which they wouldn’t otherwise qualify. We evaluate mismatch in Chicago’s selective public exam schools, which admit students using neighborhood-based diversity criteria as well as test scores. Regression discontinuity estimates for applicants favored by affirmative action indeed show no gains in reading and negative effects of exam school attendance on math scores and four-year college enrollment. But these results are similar for more- and less-selective schools and for applicants more and less likely to benefit from affirmative action, a pattern inconsistent with mismatch. We show that Chicago exam school effects are determined largely by the schools attended when not offered an exam school seat. In particular, apparent mismatch is explained by the fact that exam school admission diverts many applicants from high-performing Noble Network charter schools, where they would have done well. Consistent with these findings, exam schools reduce math scores for applicants applying from high-quality charter schools in another large urban district. Exam school applicants’ previous achievement, race, and other demographic characteristics that are sometimes said to mediate student-school matching play no role in this story.