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In the News
CHARTER SCHOOLS' SCORES MIXED
TEST RESULTS ONLY AS GOOD AS EACH SCHOOL'S PROGRAM
DANA HULL, Mercury News
When California's annual measure of school performance was announced last week, the growing number of charter schools in Santa Clara County posted scores that were mixed -- much like regular public schools as a whole.
As educators comb the state's Academic Performance Index for clues to how charter schools are doing, it's clear that performance is only as good as a particular school's program. And, as with other schools, scores often reflect a school's demographic mix.
California does not analyze charters separately, but the California Charter Schools Association, an advocacy group, looks closely at the results. The API numbers showed a clear pattern, said spokesman Gary Larson.
''What we've noticed so far,'' he said of Bay Area charters, ''is that schools that offer a great deal of structure, rigor and typically longer school days are the charter schools that really knocked it out of the park.''
Some of those that performed well on the index are KIPP Heartwood Academy, in San Jose's Alum Rock district, and the Oakland Charter Academy and American Indian Public Charter School, both in Oakland.
The API, distilled from how students perform on standardized tests, is like a school report card. Schools are asked to improve their overall API score each year and ultimately reach a target goal of at least 800 on the 1,000-point scale.
Local charter schools posted API scores ranging from a low of 510 to a high of 955. About half of the charter schools fall above, and half below the county median of 785.
There's an debate in public education circles that intensifies as the number of charter schools grows. Are charter schools, which have more flexibility when it comes to hiring and firing staff and designing curriculum, better than traditional public schools when it comes to raising student achievement?
Advocates point to schools like KIPP Heartwood Academy, which saw its API score climb 21 points to 921 this year. And they stress that the state's 574 charter schools, many only a few years old, often attract students who struggled in other public schools, making any gain more remarkable.
Skeptics charge that charter schools ''skim'' the best students from other local schools because charters tend to draw highly motivated parents who are willing to switch schools because they are dedicated to their children's educations.
They also point to a recent Department of Education study that found fourth-graders in traditional public schools were outperforming charter students in reading and math.
The study was based on fourth-grade math and reading scores at 150 charter schools and nearly 7,000 non-charter public schools nationwide. Critics say state samples would be more accurate.
Santa Clara County has 20 charter schools, including two that just opened. Some charter schools do not have API scores because they either have too few students or have not been open long enough to have relevant test score data.
But API scores for the charters largely mimic trends in the county as a whole. And like other public schools, local charters are either celebrating progress or regrouping after setbacks.
Bullis Charter School in Los Altos is always one of the highest-scoring schools in California. This year its API score dropped 18 points, from 973 to 955.
But the school has just 260 students. With such a small sample, one student -- whether he is struggling or learning English -- can have a larger effect on the API than a student at a larger school.
And Bullis does not focus on test scores as much as other schools, administrators say. Instead, it develops learning plans for each student.
''We are completely redefining what learning is about. We are not teaching to the test,'' Bullis Principal Wanny Hersey said. ''If I wanted to get really high test scores, I could do it. We could practice a hundred times and easily get to 1,000. But we have a different philosophy in terms of what we define as success.''
Illustration:Chart
CHART: MERCURY NEWS
CHARTER SCHOOL TEST SCORES
Here are the Academic Performace Index scores for charter schools in Santa Clara County. Some charters do not have API scores because they are too new or have too few students. Every public school in California is ranked on a scale of 200 to 1,000, with a goal of reaching at least 800.
2005 2006
SCHOOL SCHOOL DISTRICT API API
Bullis Charter County Office of Education 973 955
KIPP Heartwood Academy Alum Rock Union Elementary 900 921
Sartorette Charter School Cambrian Elementary 870 888
Fammatre Elementary Cambrian Elementary 877 880
Charter School of Morgan Hill Morgan Hill Unified 831 868
Price Charter Middle School Cambrian Elementary 835 837
Farnham Charter School Cambrian Elementary 822 818
Santa Clara County Median 777 785
Sherman Oaks Elementary Campbell Union Elementary 669 676
Latino College Preparatory Academy East Side Union High 555 607
Leadership Public Shools, E. San Jose County Office of Education 537 575
MACSA Academia Calmecac East Side Union High 549 528
Downtown College Prep San Jose Unified 731 528
Escuela College Prep East Side Union High 525 525
MACSA El Portal Leadership Academy Gilroy Unified 496 510
Source: California Department of Education
For more information: http://api.cde.ca.gov
Copyright (c) 2006 San Jose Mercury News
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