UPDATE: A Challenge for Chris Cerf - Jersey Jazzman: NJ CREDO Report: No Evidence Charter "Success" Can Be Replicated

Jersey Jazzman: NJ CREDO Report: No Evidence Charter "Success" Can Be Replicated:

NJ CREDO Report: No Evidence Charter "Success" Can Be Replicated

by Duke

A Challenge for Chris Cerf

by Duke

Here's the statement from NJDOE Commissioner Chris Cerf about today's CREDO charter report (thx Mother Crusader). The money quote:

Key findings from the report:

·       School level: “At the school level, 30 percent of the charter schools have significantly more positive learning gains than their TPS (traditional public school) counterparts in reading, while 11 percent of charter schools have significantly lower learning gains.  In math, 40 percent of the charter schools studied outperform their TPS peers and 13 percent perform worse.  These school-level results are notably more positive than the analogous pattern presented in the 2009 report.” [emphasis mine]

Got that? This is at the "school level." Cerf says charters outperform their "TPS (Traditional Public School) peers."

Here's the challenge:

Commissioner Cerf, name one TPS school in Newark that has essentially the same student population 

631 days ago, NJDOE Commissioner Chris Cerf promised a report on charter schools that took into account student demographics "as quickly as is humanly possible." Finally, the CREDO NJ charter report has landed - and with much reformy fanfare:

Study: Charter schools outperform public schools in N.J.

Yeah, we knew that already. The question was never whether or not these schools outperformed public schools;the real question is whether or not charter school successes can be replicated on a large scale.

To that end, I think this is a more relevant headline:

Study: No Evidence Charter School "Success" Can Be Replicated

Why can't "successful" charters be replicated? The CREDO study makes it clear: charters serve fewer children who don't speak English at home and fewer children with special needs than their "feeder" public schools. Look at p.13 in the report - it's right there.

It's also worth noting that even though the CREDO report says charters serve as many children "in poverty" as