More with Less or More with More & Why it Matters!
I did a piece a short while back on TEAM Academy, a Charter school which I thus far admire in Newark, NJ. I admire the school because, while the data I’ve been able to gather from official sources still indicates that TEAM is far from a statistical match with its surroundings, and appears to have greater cohort attrition than I might like to see, I am, at this point, comfortable stating that TEAM Academy is more comparable than others to its surroundings than other Newark Charters.
Allow me to restate why I care about the comparability piece of the puzzle. First, let me say that I do believe that there is (or at least may be) an important role in urban school systems or any school systems for that matter, for schools that aren’t entirely comparable. That’s the case for Magnet schools for example, which have in some rigorous studies been shown to produce positive outcomes for kids who attend. (see: