Jersey Jazzman: Only You Can Prevent Charter Cheerleading

Jersey Jazzman: Only You Can Prevent Charter Cheerleading:

Only You Can Prevent Charter Cheerleading

When I want some shallow charter school cheerleading, I go straight to Campbell Brown's The 74 Million. With the possible exception of Education Post, you'll not find a more reliable source of credulous, unconditional charter love; take, for example, this piece by the reliably reformy Richard Whitmire:

But a steady drip of recent data points to a very different story line: Not only did the reforms of traditional Newark Public Schools produce some real benefits, but the relatively small portion of the gift invested in Newark charter schools paid off big. Real big. 

Whitmire gives three citations to back up his claim that Newark's schools produced "real gains." Of course, all are from -- surprise! -- The 74: one from a spokesman for KIPP, the largest chain chain in Newark; one from current State Superintendent Chris Cerf, who, when he was the state education commissioner, was former State Superintendent Cami Anderson's biggest supporter; and one from Anderson herself.

All trot out data points to make their case; unfortunately, none account for what quantitative researchers often call secular effects: changes that affect the entire system being studied. In other words, if Newark's test scores rose as part of a statewide rise in scores, that really doesn't make the case that Newark's reforms had any direct, causal effect. - See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2016/01/only-you-can-prevent-charter.html#sthash.bZ2WyMmo.dpuf