Wednesday, August 20, 2008
D.C.'s Charter School Movement
So with charter DC-CAS scores released the other day what can be said about the overall strength of the movement? The charter board said that the schools overall are performing "moderately well." I'm not so sure. When you look at the results they appear to be all over the map.
Some real surprises. D.C. Prep, which is in charter warning status, showed gains in both math and reading but failed again to make AYP. Failing to meet AYP was one of the things that got them in trouble in the first place. Another school in warning status, Cesar Chavez, demonstrated further decline, especially at their Capitol Hill campus which is supposed to be their better one. I'm wondering if they have given up. Also disturbing is the fall in scores at Howard Road Academy which was awarded the school in Southeast that failed in the middle of this year. I wonder if they are another casualty of the charter school facility phenomenon which I define as a school becoming distracted by the drive to expand.
We will be performing our annual analysis of the scores at the William E. Doar, Jr. PCS for the Performing Arts. But preliminary indications are that the students who have been with us for 3 or more years did extremely well.
PermaLink | 6:23 AM |
|
Some real surprises. D.C. Prep, which is in charter warning status, showed gains in both math and reading but failed again to make AYP. Failing to meet AYP was one of the things that got them in trouble in the first place. Another school in warning status, Cesar Chavez, demonstrated further decline, especially at their Capitol Hill campus which is supposed to be their better one. I'm wondering if they have given up. Also disturbing is the fall in scores at Howard Road Academy which was awarded the school in Southeast that failed in the middle of this year. I wonder if they are another casualty of the charter school facility phenomenon which I define as a school becoming distracted by the drive to expand.
We will be performing our annual analysis of the scores at the William E. Doar, Jr. PCS for the Performing Arts. But preliminary indications are that the students who have been with us for 3 or more years did extremely well.
PermaLink | 6:23 AM |
| 
