Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) recently released a comprehensive report, Charter School Performance in California, 2014.
On average, charter students in California gained 14 days of learning in reading over their district-school peers, but lag behind their district-school peers by 14 days of learning in math. The new results for charter students represent an increase of 7 days of learning compared to the 2009 California results in both reading and math.
"The results for the California statewide report are varied. While we see improvement in the results of charters, particularly for those students who attend charter schools in urban areas, overall the results continue to be mixed," said Margaret Raymond, director of CREDO at Stanford University.
The study also evaluated student progress on math tests in half the nation's 5,000 charter schools and concluded that 17 percent were superior to a matched traditional public school, 37 percent were worse than the public school and the remaining 46 percent had academic gains no different from that of a similar public school.
Put plainly, charter schools are not offering the proverbial silver bullet in terms of increasing student's academic performance. There are excellent charter schools, just as there are excellent public schools and, unfortunately, there are too many low performing schools, both public and charter.
Charter schools will continue to market their successes, and only their successes, claiming they have the right tools, teachers and strategies to propel student performances faster and higher than traditional public schools. However, according to University of Washington economist Dan Goldhaber, about 60 percent of achievement is explained by nonschool factors, such as socio-economic status.
Of course teachers are an intricate factor within schools, but their effects pale in comparison to the myriad problems that come with being poor -- problems beyond the control of schools and Margaret Lavin: Study Proves Charter Schools Are No Silver Bullet - San Jose Mercury News: