Monday, February 7, 2011
AHS Weekly Update- Week of February 7th, 2011
A quick reminder that there is no school next Monday, February 14th. Please take a moment to review the following updates:
College Night
PAC Meeting/Update
Upcoming Exhibition Events
2011 Project Week
College Night
Back By Popular Demand! Tuesday evening, February 15th from 5 to 6:30 PM, Animas High School will be hosting a second College Night for parents and families of the
Class of 2013 who were unable to attend on February 3rd. Please join us to hear how Animas High School will be supporting and guiding our students through the college admissions process. It’s an exciting time for 10th graders as we prepare our college files, practice application and interview skills and get ready for college tours this May. Come hear how you can support AHS in preparing all our students for post secondary success!
Questions about this event can be forwarded to the College Counseling Dept. via email at college@animashighschool.com
PAC Meeting/Update
Did you see the Ospreys in Friday’s Snowdown Parade? We appreciate all of PAC’s efforts related to this year’s float. A special thank you to Randy and Kathy Black and Tamsin Rohrich . Their vision, direction and participation enabled AHS to have a super successful showing in the parade for the third year in a row! Thanks to all for a scary, good time!
Our next PAC meeting is scheduled for February 17th at 6:00pm at AHS. The AHS Head of School will not be at this meeting so parents/families with questions or comments for Michael should schedule time with him during his next round of Office Hours on Monday, February 21st. Contact pac@animashighschool.com with questions or concerns.
Upcoming Exhibition Events
Animas High School Freshmen will be presenting the following exhibitions to the community on Thursday, February 24th at Animas High School.
The first exhibition event will be “Model U.N.” from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Students will address issues of the Palestinian refugee crisis, and the recent provocations from North Korea. Students will make speeches, using parliamentary rules, haggling over resolutions, and writing amendments to solve these challenging world problems. It is a great chance to see some critical thinking in action and learn about these global issues. Contact john.fisher@animashighschool.com with questions about this event.
The second exhibition will feature two live performances of Shakespeare's “A Mid-Summer Night's Dream” through the art of shadow puppetry. Students will perform their 21st century variation of this classic piece of theater and literature. Show times are at 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Contact Jessica.mccallum@animashighschool.com with questions about this event
2011 Project Week
Over the next ten days, faculty will be meeting with their Project Week teams. Students will review expectations and logistics for the week with their teacher/project leaders. Please check-in with your student to make sure they are clear with the plan for project week. (FYI- Project week will take place Feb. 28th to March 4th and student participation is mandatory)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
What's Wrong with the CREDO Report?
In the blog post below,http://animashighschool.blogspot.com/2011/02/across-us-charter-school-movement-grows.html the article uses an often cited study to represent a counter argument to the success of the Charter School movement. Specifically:
A 2009 study by Stanford University found that only 17 percent of charter schools performed significantly better than traditional public schools while 37 percent performed worse and 46 percent showed no big difference.
As I find myself speaking publically about AHS and the greater Charter School movement, it's important to understand how the CREDO report is used by critics to counter charter school success. Below, I've posted two very credible and accurate assessments of the Stanford study.
First, is a link to Nelson Smith's report CREDO Reconsidered. I had the good fortune of taking a class from Mr. Smith this past fall at Harvard and he went into great detail concerning the flaws in the CREDO team's research techniques. You can read his summary here:
http://www.publiccharters.org/files/publications/CREDO%20Reconsidered%20-%20final.pdf
Second, is a report from www.edreform.com which offers additional context and information about the shortcomings of the CREDO report.
I wanted to make sure that these resources are available for anyone trying to find credibilitiy in CREDO. Enjoy!
---------------------------------------------------------------
See this report at:http://www.edreform.com/_upload/No_More_Waiting_Charter_Schools.pdf
www.edreform.com October 2010
FACT-CHECKING CHARTER SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT
Why some are saying only 1 in 5 charter schools perform, and why it’s wrong
Throughout the media in recent months, a statistic is often repeated that suggests charter school achievement is “mixed” and that only 1 in 5 charter schools actually perform well. This started in June 2009, when The New York Times published a report on a study by a small research center out at
Stanford University, whose press releases for each of the 15 states studied said that charter schools usually did no better or worse than traditional public schools.
It’s been repeated by everyone from Joe Scarborough to Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The problem is that it’s not even remotely true.
The source of this new conventional wisdom about charters is the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO). Their report is flawed in several ways:
• It was not a national study but a study of only15 states. Forty states plus DC have charter school laws.
• It deployed a method of comparing students in charters to “virtual twins” in traditional public schools. These children are composites of what the researchers believe the student in a traditional public school would look like, not what they DO look like.
• The study did not account for any variation in grade levels of schools. Some charters run from K-3, starting a new grade each year; others start at 3 and go to 8 and so on. The number of years a student was in a charter is completely ignored.
• The researchers ignored the gold standards of research that requires apples to apples comparisons. That means that the achievement of a student that is already in a charter but would have gone to the precise neighborhood school of the student to whom he is compared in the traditional public school.
• The researchers ignored variations in state test rigor, reporting and data, and made comparisons of students regardless of state boundaries.
• The study accounted for poverty using federal free and reduced lunch program data, which the federal research bureau that collects that data has admitted is deeply flawed, as most charters do not participate fully in the free and reduced lunch program for a variety of welldocumented reasons. That does not mean they do not feed students; it means they prefernot to comply with US Department of Agriculture paperwork and regulations that are
costly and often negate the funds they’d receive.
The Center for Education Reform – Charter Achievement October 2010
Following is evidence to support these high level points:
1. CREDO’s results rely on the invention of fake children in conventional public schools for the purposes of gauging the learning gains by students in charter schools. Instead of comparing real students who attend charter schools to real students who attend conventional public schools, CREDO has merged demographic data to create so-called “virtual twins.” This is a highly subjective and easily manipulated way to gauge the effectiveness of a school.
• The study’s authors have admitted that it is easier to “generalize” about a charter school by creating so-called virtual twins, while admitting that head-to-head studies (referred to as “Lottery Studies,”) are superior to their approach. According to respected researcher Caroline Hoxby of Stanford, Harvard, and the National Bureau of Economic Research, “the CREDO study does not have data on charter schools’ admissions lotteries, so it does not use a randomization-based method of evaluation. Randomization is the ‘gold standard’ method of evaluating charter schools’ effects on student achievement because it effectively
eliminates all forms of selection bias so long as (i) randomized admissions lotteries were used and (ii) a sufficient number of students participated in them.”
• There is no such thing as a virtual student or virtual student achievement. Reports that attempt to virtually replicate a demographic profile of a charter school student by ethnicity, age, socio-economic status and match these averages with one or more conventional public school students can be easily manipulated by selecting certain types of data and eliminating others. Hoxby explains that the CREDO study, “matches each charter school
student to a group of students in traditional public schools. A charter school student can potentially be matched to a group that contains many students… Thereafter, the study treats these group averages as though they were students,” themselves.
• To successfully use the “virtual twin” methodology, students currently in a charter school had to have been previously enrolled in a conventional public school long enough to have a profile, and their attendance would have to be linked to state test data. CREDO did not do this. Twins were not created with state test data. Instead, they were created by scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — which provides snapshots of
state performance and is not to be used to develop “virtual twins” or gauge individual school performance.
• Even if the process were completed accurately, it is statistically impossible to come even close to a “virtual twin” for 20 to 25 percent of charter school students.
2. CREDO’s report does not take into account the higher percentage of charter elementary and middle schools, leading to inaccurately weighted aggregate data. In addition, CREDO’s analysis only looks at three years of a student’s education. The study’s failure to look at students over a
longer period of time leads to unrealistic outcomes and a flawed picture of the impact of charter schools.
• CREDO’s assertion that charter elementary and middle school students are positively impacted compared to their peers in conventional public schools, but negatively impacted in high schools and “multi-level” schools, is misleading because high schools make up sucha small number of charters, thus skewing CREDO’s overall data.
• In reality, 56 percent of charters serve elementary and middle school grades, or K-8, while only 22 percent of charters are high schools, or serving grades 9-12. Most charter schools are not classified as they are “multi-level” schools.
• Research has shown that whenever a child switches schools, whether elementary to middle, or a traditional public to a charter, there tends to be a drop in the student’s academic achievement level. This recovers after two or three years.
• In reality, long-term studies demonstrate strong growth for students who stay in charter schools. For example, on average, a student in New York City who attended a charter school for all of grades kindergarten through eighth would close about 86 percent of the achievement gap in math and 66 percent of the achievement gap in English. In Washington, D.C., high school graduation rate for DC charter schools is 24 percentage points higher
than at conventional public high schools.
3. CREDO’s study has been discredited by the nation’s leading charter school achievement researcher, Caroline Hoxby, for not following the “gold standard” of charter school research.
• According to Hoxby, whose work was also published by Stanford University and the National Bureau of Economic Research:
A recent study…by CREDO…contains a statistical mistake that causes a biased estimate of how charter schools affect achievement. Essentially, the achievement of charter school students is measured with much more error than the achievement of the controls, which are not individual students but are group averages of students in the traditional public schools. [This] forces the
estimated effect of charter schools to be biased, and the bias is negative…the CREDO study also violates four rules for the empirically sound use of matching methods to evaluate other charter schools’ effects.
4. CREDO's analysis does not account for the great variances in charter laws from state to state or how those laws may differ from paper to practice.
• The report suggests a negative correlation between student achievement and multiple authorizers. In fact, such charter authorizers vary greatly in law and practice, as CER’s 2010 study and scorecard demonstrate. There is clear evidence that charters students succeed in states with a number of meaningful, independent and highly accountable authorizers who compete for chartering.
• The states reported to have significant learning gains are in fact, states which have earned an average "C" grade for the strength of their law, based on CER's 2009 charter law analysis.
5. CREDO claims that charter schools lead to lower performance among Black and Hispanic students but higher achievement gains for low-income students. This is flawed, because most of the low-income students served by public charter schools are minorities. CREDO’s failure to recognize this overlap leads to skewed results.
• CREDO relies solely on federal free and reduced lunch program data in its analysis of poverty vs. ethnicity. In reality, the National Center for Education Statistics’ former commissioner, Mark Schneider, has joined with leading experts to call lunch program data a “poor proxy for poverty.” Moreover, the 2010 Annual Survey of America’s Charter Schools found that 39 percent of charter schools do not even participate in the free and reduced lunch program because it is an onerous process.
• In reality, 50 percent of students in charter schools are deemed at-risk and 50 percent of children in charter schools are nonwhite. Further, 40 percent or more of charter schools serve student populations that are over 60 percent minority, at-risk or low income. Charters in urban areas, such as New York City, Detroit, or Washington, DC, serve student populations that are nearly 100 percent minority or at-risk.
CHARTER TRUTHS
Individuals seeking verifiable charter school research need to know that there are reports with much more credibility, and much more reliability, than the one produced by CREDO. For example, the following data points indicate the success and achievement of charter schools nationwide.
Student and School Achievement
• By the end of eighth grade, a charter student would be scoring 30 points higher in math than if he remained in a traditional public school, according to Hoxby.
• In Colorado, 85 percent of charter elementary schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), compared to 73 percent of conventional elementary schools. Eighty-one percent of charter middle schools also made AYP, compared to only 49 percent of conventional middle schools.
• In New Orleans, the number of fourth grade students who met or exceeded grade level in English rose from 44 percent in 2005 to 59 percent in 2009. Eight graders who met or exceeded grade level increased from 26 percent to 42 percent of students.
• Eighty-one percent of all charter schools in Georgia made AYP compared to 79 percent of traditional public schools.
• At SUNY-authorized schools in New York, charter students are performing better than their non-charter peers. Eighty percent of students in grades three through eight scored at or above proficiency in ELA in SUNY schools, compared with 77 percent of all public school students. In math, 92 percent of students scored at or above proficiency compared with 86 percent of all public school students.
• California's school Academic Performance Index (API) is calculated from student test scores on a scale of 1 to 1,000. Analyzing the growth of school's API scores from 2004 -2007, it shows that 17 percent of charter schools have had significant growth, over 50 points, compared to only 6 percent of traditional public schools. In Los Angeles, charter schools had a 2008 median API score of 728 as compared to a median API score of 663 for conventional public middle schools.
Charter School Accountability
• Since the beginning of the charter school movement, only 13 percent of charter schools (657 of the 5,250 schools ever created) have ever closed their doors.
• Of the charter schools that have closed, only 14 percent closed because of academic reasons. This means that charters have a significant rate of success despite being held to much higher standards than conventional public schools.
Charter School Demand
• 65 percent of charter schools have waiting lists, an increase of 6 percent over 2009.
• Parental demand for charter schools surged by 21 percent in 2010.
• In some areas of the country, such as North Carolina, no new charters may open unless one closes. It is estimated that the waiting list for all charter schools combined in Texas is currently over 40,000 students. Cities are also constricted by caps; Boston, Massachusetts has over 8,000 students on waiting lists because of the numerous restrictions on charter
growth.
The Center for Education Reform
910 Seventeenth Street, NW • Suite 1100 • Washington, DC 20006
800-521-2118 • 301-986-8088
www.edreform.com
A 2009 study by Stanford University found that only 17 percent of charter schools performed significantly better than traditional public schools while 37 percent performed worse and 46 percent showed no big difference.
As I find myself speaking publically about AHS and the greater Charter School movement, it's important to understand how the CREDO report is used by critics to counter charter school success. Below, I've posted two very credible and accurate assessments of the Stanford study.
First, is a link to Nelson Smith's report CREDO Reconsidered. I had the good fortune of taking a class from Mr. Smith this past fall at Harvard and he went into great detail concerning the flaws in the CREDO team's research techniques. You can read his summary here:
http://www.publiccharters.org/files/publications/CREDO%20Reconsidered%20-%20final.pdf
Second, is a report from www.edreform.com which offers additional context and information about the shortcomings of the CREDO report.
I wanted to make sure that these resources are available for anyone trying to find credibilitiy in CREDO. Enjoy!
---------------------------------------------------------------
See this report at:http://www.edreform.com/_upload/No_More_Waiting_Charter_Schools.pdf
www.edreform.com October 2010
FACT-CHECKING CHARTER SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT
Why some are saying only 1 in 5 charter schools perform, and why it’s wrong
Throughout the media in recent months, a statistic is often repeated that suggests charter school achievement is “mixed” and that only 1 in 5 charter schools actually perform well. This started in June 2009, when The New York Times published a report on a study by a small research center out at
Stanford University, whose press releases for each of the 15 states studied said that charter schools usually did no better or worse than traditional public schools.
It’s been repeated by everyone from Joe Scarborough to Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The problem is that it’s not even remotely true.
The source of this new conventional wisdom about charters is the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO). Their report is flawed in several ways:
• It was not a national study but a study of only15 states. Forty states plus DC have charter school laws.
• It deployed a method of comparing students in charters to “virtual twins” in traditional public schools. These children are composites of what the researchers believe the student in a traditional public school would look like, not what they DO look like.
• The study did not account for any variation in grade levels of schools. Some charters run from K-3, starting a new grade each year; others start at 3 and go to 8 and so on. The number of years a student was in a charter is completely ignored.
• The researchers ignored the gold standards of research that requires apples to apples comparisons. That means that the achievement of a student that is already in a charter but would have gone to the precise neighborhood school of the student to whom he is compared in the traditional public school.
• The researchers ignored variations in state test rigor, reporting and data, and made comparisons of students regardless of state boundaries.
• The study accounted for poverty using federal free and reduced lunch program data, which the federal research bureau that collects that data has admitted is deeply flawed, as most charters do not participate fully in the free and reduced lunch program for a variety of welldocumented reasons. That does not mean they do not feed students; it means they prefernot to comply with US Department of Agriculture paperwork and regulations that are
costly and often negate the funds they’d receive.
The Center for Education Reform – Charter Achievement October 2010
Following is evidence to support these high level points:
1. CREDO’s results rely on the invention of fake children in conventional public schools for the purposes of gauging the learning gains by students in charter schools. Instead of comparing real students who attend charter schools to real students who attend conventional public schools, CREDO has merged demographic data to create so-called “virtual twins.” This is a highly subjective and easily manipulated way to gauge the effectiveness of a school.
• The study’s authors have admitted that it is easier to “generalize” about a charter school by creating so-called virtual twins, while admitting that head-to-head studies (referred to as “Lottery Studies,”) are superior to their approach. According to respected researcher Caroline Hoxby of Stanford, Harvard, and the National Bureau of Economic Research, “the CREDO study does not have data on charter schools’ admissions lotteries, so it does not use a randomization-based method of evaluation. Randomization is the ‘gold standard’ method of evaluating charter schools’ effects on student achievement because it effectively
eliminates all forms of selection bias so long as (i) randomized admissions lotteries were used and (ii) a sufficient number of students participated in them.”
• There is no such thing as a virtual student or virtual student achievement. Reports that attempt to virtually replicate a demographic profile of a charter school student by ethnicity, age, socio-economic status and match these averages with one or more conventional public school students can be easily manipulated by selecting certain types of data and eliminating others. Hoxby explains that the CREDO study, “matches each charter school
student to a group of students in traditional public schools. A charter school student can potentially be matched to a group that contains many students… Thereafter, the study treats these group averages as though they were students,” themselves.
• To successfully use the “virtual twin” methodology, students currently in a charter school had to have been previously enrolled in a conventional public school long enough to have a profile, and their attendance would have to be linked to state test data. CREDO did not do this. Twins were not created with state test data. Instead, they were created by scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — which provides snapshots of
state performance and is not to be used to develop “virtual twins” or gauge individual school performance.
• Even if the process were completed accurately, it is statistically impossible to come even close to a “virtual twin” for 20 to 25 percent of charter school students.
2. CREDO’s report does not take into account the higher percentage of charter elementary and middle schools, leading to inaccurately weighted aggregate data. In addition, CREDO’s analysis only looks at three years of a student’s education. The study’s failure to look at students over a
longer period of time leads to unrealistic outcomes and a flawed picture of the impact of charter schools.
• CREDO’s assertion that charter elementary and middle school students are positively impacted compared to their peers in conventional public schools, but negatively impacted in high schools and “multi-level” schools, is misleading because high schools make up sucha small number of charters, thus skewing CREDO’s overall data.
• In reality, 56 percent of charters serve elementary and middle school grades, or K-8, while only 22 percent of charters are high schools, or serving grades 9-12. Most charter schools are not classified as they are “multi-level” schools.
• Research has shown that whenever a child switches schools, whether elementary to middle, or a traditional public to a charter, there tends to be a drop in the student’s academic achievement level. This recovers after two or three years.
• In reality, long-term studies demonstrate strong growth for students who stay in charter schools. For example, on average, a student in New York City who attended a charter school for all of grades kindergarten through eighth would close about 86 percent of the achievement gap in math and 66 percent of the achievement gap in English. In Washington, D.C., high school graduation rate for DC charter schools is 24 percentage points higher
than at conventional public high schools.
3. CREDO’s study has been discredited by the nation’s leading charter school achievement researcher, Caroline Hoxby, for not following the “gold standard” of charter school research.
• According to Hoxby, whose work was also published by Stanford University and the National Bureau of Economic Research:
A recent study…by CREDO…contains a statistical mistake that causes a biased estimate of how charter schools affect achievement. Essentially, the achievement of charter school students is measured with much more error than the achievement of the controls, which are not individual students but are group averages of students in the traditional public schools. [This] forces the
estimated effect of charter schools to be biased, and the bias is negative…the CREDO study also violates four rules for the empirically sound use of matching methods to evaluate other charter schools’ effects.
4. CREDO's analysis does not account for the great variances in charter laws from state to state or how those laws may differ from paper to practice.
• The report suggests a negative correlation between student achievement and multiple authorizers. In fact, such charter authorizers vary greatly in law and practice, as CER’s 2010 study and scorecard demonstrate. There is clear evidence that charters students succeed in states with a number of meaningful, independent and highly accountable authorizers who compete for chartering.
• The states reported to have significant learning gains are in fact, states which have earned an average "C" grade for the strength of their law, based on CER's 2009 charter law analysis.
5. CREDO claims that charter schools lead to lower performance among Black and Hispanic students but higher achievement gains for low-income students. This is flawed, because most of the low-income students served by public charter schools are minorities. CREDO’s failure to recognize this overlap leads to skewed results.
• CREDO relies solely on federal free and reduced lunch program data in its analysis of poverty vs. ethnicity. In reality, the National Center for Education Statistics’ former commissioner, Mark Schneider, has joined with leading experts to call lunch program data a “poor proxy for poverty.” Moreover, the 2010 Annual Survey of America’s Charter Schools found that 39 percent of charter schools do not even participate in the free and reduced lunch program because it is an onerous process.
• In reality, 50 percent of students in charter schools are deemed at-risk and 50 percent of children in charter schools are nonwhite. Further, 40 percent or more of charter schools serve student populations that are over 60 percent minority, at-risk or low income. Charters in urban areas, such as New York City, Detroit, or Washington, DC, serve student populations that are nearly 100 percent minority or at-risk.
CHARTER TRUTHS
Individuals seeking verifiable charter school research need to know that there are reports with much more credibility, and much more reliability, than the one produced by CREDO. For example, the following data points indicate the success and achievement of charter schools nationwide.
Student and School Achievement
• By the end of eighth grade, a charter student would be scoring 30 points higher in math than if he remained in a traditional public school, according to Hoxby.
• In Colorado, 85 percent of charter elementary schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), compared to 73 percent of conventional elementary schools. Eighty-one percent of charter middle schools also made AYP, compared to only 49 percent of conventional middle schools.
• In New Orleans, the number of fourth grade students who met or exceeded grade level in English rose from 44 percent in 2005 to 59 percent in 2009. Eight graders who met or exceeded grade level increased from 26 percent to 42 percent of students.
• Eighty-one percent of all charter schools in Georgia made AYP compared to 79 percent of traditional public schools.
• At SUNY-authorized schools in New York, charter students are performing better than their non-charter peers. Eighty percent of students in grades three through eight scored at or above proficiency in ELA in SUNY schools, compared with 77 percent of all public school students. In math, 92 percent of students scored at or above proficiency compared with 86 percent of all public school students.
• California's school Academic Performance Index (API) is calculated from student test scores on a scale of 1 to 1,000. Analyzing the growth of school's API scores from 2004 -2007, it shows that 17 percent of charter schools have had significant growth, over 50 points, compared to only 6 percent of traditional public schools. In Los Angeles, charter schools had a 2008 median API score of 728 as compared to a median API score of 663 for conventional public middle schools.
Charter School Accountability
• Since the beginning of the charter school movement, only 13 percent of charter schools (657 of the 5,250 schools ever created) have ever closed their doors.
• Of the charter schools that have closed, only 14 percent closed because of academic reasons. This means that charters have a significant rate of success despite being held to much higher standards than conventional public schools.
Charter School Demand
• 65 percent of charter schools have waiting lists, an increase of 6 percent over 2009.
• Parental demand for charter schools surged by 21 percent in 2010.
• In some areas of the country, such as North Carolina, no new charters may open unless one closes. It is estimated that the waiting list for all charter schools combined in Texas is currently over 40,000 students. Cities are also constricted by caps; Boston, Massachusetts has over 8,000 students on waiting lists because of the numerous restrictions on charter
growth.
The Center for Education Reform
910 Seventeenth Street, NW • Suite 1100 • Washington, DC 20006
800-521-2118 • 301-986-8088
www.edreform.com
Across U.S., Charter School Movement Grows
Photo by: MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/APCharter schools are growing most rapidly in urban districts, such as the Berkeley Maynard Academy in Oakland, Calif., with struggling schools and large numbers of poor, minority students.
Across U.S., Charter School Movement Grows
By Terence Chea Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. – As cash-strapped school districts lay off teachers and close campuses, publicly funded charter schools are flourishing and altering the landscape of public education.
Despite a painful economic downturn, the charter school movement is expanding rapidly across the country with support from the Obama administration, wealthy donors such as Bill Gates and
Oprah Winfrey, and the highly publicized documentary “Waiting for Superman.”
Charter schools typically receive a mixture of public and private money and operate free of many regulations that govern traditional public schools in exchange for achieving promised results.
Nationwide, less than 4 percent of public school students are enrolled in charters, but that number is expected to rise significantly because of increased financial and political support.
More than a dozen states loosened restrictions on charters during the last year for a chance to win a share of the federal $4.3 billion Race to the Top school reform competition.
More than a dozen states loosened restrictions on charters during the last year for a chance to win a share of the federal $4.3 billion Race to the Top school reform competition.
The number of charter schools grew by 6.7 percent to 4,936 in 2009-2010 and is projected to increase by 7.5 percent in the current school year, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
The 2010-11 growth is expected to be dramatic in states such as Florida with a 12 percent increase, Illinois with a 14 percent rise and New York with a 20 percent jump, according to the association’s projections.
“Families that have options are increasingly choosing charter schools over traditional schools,” said Peter Groff, who heads the national association.
California saw a 15 percent increase, with 115 new campuses despite budget woes that led to mass teacher layoffs and shuttered traditional schools, according to the California Charter School Association.
Many charter schools are boosting the academic achievement of disadvantaged students, but critics say charters siphon students and resources away from traditional public schools, result in greater racial segregation, block access to certain groups of students and operate without proper oversight.
“What we’re seeing basically is an effort to impose deregulation and the free market into education,” said Diane Ravich, an education historian at New York University. “The fascination with charters among philanthropists and Wall Street has diverted the attention away from tackling the hard problems of public education.”
Charter schools are growing most rapidly in urban districts with struggling schools and large numbers of poor, minority students. In 16 districts, more than one in five public school students attend charters, with 36 percent in Detroit, 38 percent in Washington, D.C., and 61 percent in New Orleans, according to the national alliance.
Much of the growth is being driven by charter management organizations that have received multimillion-dollar grants from the Obama administration and foundations funded by philanthropists such as Gates, Charles Schwab, Eli Broad and Reed Hastings.
San Francisco-based KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, plans to double its national network of schools to 200 during the next decade.
San Francisco-based KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, plans to double its national network of schools to 200 during the next decade.
Aspire Public Schools, California’s largest charter school operator with 30 campuses, plans to open as many as 45 new campus over the next decade, said CEO James Willcox.
The Oakland-based nonprofit, which offers kindergarten through high school, was recently named one of the world’s 20 most improved schools systems – one of only three in the U.S. – by the consulting firm McKinsey and Co. after producing impressive results on standardized tests.
Aspire officials say nearly all of its students are accepted at four-year colleges, and most are their first in their families to attend. They attribute that high rate to smaller schools and class sizes, a longer school day and school year, and its relentless “College for Certain” culture.
Aspire officials say nearly all of its students are accepted at four-year colleges, and most are their first in their families to attend. They attribute that high rate to smaller schools and class sizes, a longer school day and school year, and its relentless “College for Certain” culture.
“Our entire program from kindergarten all the way through high school is geared toward getting youngsters to go to college and get a college degree,” Willcox said.
At ERES Academy, an Aspire K-8 school in Oakland, every classroom is named after a college and students eat in University Hall.
At ERES Academy, an Aspire K-8 school in Oakland, every classroom is named after a college and students eat in University Hall.
Jorge Lopez, a senior at California College Preparatory Academy in Berkeley, said he didn’t think college was possible for him before he came to the Aspire-run high school. He’s now poised to be the first in his family to get a college education.
“Upon coming here I found out that college is where you want to be at,” said Lopez, 17. “My parents tell me it’s an honor that I’m leading the family, that I’m being an example for them.”
But not all charter schools produce strong academic results.
But not all charter schools produce strong academic results.
A 2009 study by Stanford University found that only 17 percent of charter schools performed significantly better than traditional public schools while 37 percent performed worse and 46 percent showed no big difference.
A 2010 study by the UCLA-based Civil Rights Project found that charter schools tend to be more racially segregated than traditional schools.
“Charter schools are publicly funded schools, and we need to make sure students of all backgrounds have access to them,” said study co-author Erica Frankenberg, an education professor at Pennsylvania State University.
Oakland Unified School District has seen a major expansion of charters during the last decade, when it spent years under state control because of financial mismanagement. The district is now home to more than 30 charter schools.
Betty Olson-Jones, head of the Oakland teachers union, complains many charters recruit top students and get rid of poor performers, boosting the schools’ test scores and saddling traditional schools with a disproportionate number of students with disabilities, behavior problems and poor English language skills.
“You end up with schools that are filled with kids that are really struggling,” Olson-Jones said.
“Charter schools are publicly funded schools, and we need to make sure students of all backgrounds have access to them,” said study co-author Erica Frankenberg, an education professor at Pennsylvania State University.
Oakland Unified School District has seen a major expansion of charters during the last decade, when it spent years under state control because of financial mismanagement. The district is now home to more than 30 charter schools.
Betty Olson-Jones, head of the Oakland teachers union, complains many charters recruit top students and get rid of poor performers, boosting the schools’ test scores and saddling traditional schools with a disproportionate number of students with disabilities, behavior problems and poor English language skills.
“You end up with schools that are filled with kids that are really struggling,” Olson-Jones said.
Monday, January 31, 2011
AHS Weekly Update- Week of Jan. 31st, 2011
Looks like we’ve got a scary week here at Animas High School! Please familiarize yourself with these monstrous updates:College Night
2011 Snowdown Parade
Got Donuts? Fundraiser
Exhibition events
2011 PAC Surveys
17th Annual Colorado Charter Schools Conference
SACPIE Vacancies
2011 Charter Schools Week
College Night
Thursday evening, February 3rd from 5 to 6:30 PM, Animas High School will be hosting a College Night for parents and families of the Class of 2013. Please join us to hear how Animas High will be supporting and guiding our students through the college admissions process. It’s an exciting time for 10th graders as we prepare our college files, practice application and interview skills and get ready for college tours this May. Come hear how you can support AHS in preparing all our students for post secondary success!
Questions about this event can be forwarded to the College Counseling Dept. via email at college@animashighschool.com
2011 Snowdown Parade
Tuesday, February 1st, any students interested in helping with the float or participating in the Snowdown parade can meet Tamsin in the lodge after school. We will be finalizing the float for the parade on Friday, February 4th. Look for another email blast from PAC regarding the parade on Thurs. of this week.
Also, parents can donate bags of candy to be passed out at the parade.
They can be dropped off with Maureen in the AHS Main Office.
If you have any questions, please call Tamsin Rohrich, AHS Snowdown Parade Coordinator (970)507-0116 or e-mail her at mattam@centurytel.net
Got Donuts? Fundraiser
We are currently sponsoring a mini-fundraiser, selling doughnuts in conjunction with Skills for Living and Learning. Here's how to participate:
1. Buy 1 dozen glazed doughnuts for $11 or 1 dozen chocolate iced
doughnuts for $12. There is an order form at AHS Main Office.
Make checks payable to: SKILLS FOR LIVING AND LEARNING.
2. Pick-up doughnuts on Saturday, February 5 at the Fun Center:
29603 Hwy 160 from 11:00-3:00 or Skills for Living and Learning in Bayfield from 12:00-3:00.
OR.....
Call 387-8250 to place an order, pick up and pay on February 5th.
Deadline for orders is TUESDAY February 1st.
Exhibition events
Thursday, February 24th, 2011, Mr. fisher’s 9th grade students will be participating in a Model UN simulation. This annual project has quickly become a “student favorite” and we look forward to hearing what plans this year’s Security Council has in store for the delegates! Stay tuned for more details in future weekly updates.
Also on the 24th, Mrs. McCallum’s 9th grade students will be holding two live performances here on campus at 4 and 6 PM sharp! Join our students as they recreate, through the art of puppetry, Shakespeare’s A Mid Summer Night’s Dream. We are excited to see our student’s perform their 21st century variation of this classic piece of theater and literature.
2011 PAC Surveys
We count on your feedback to make our school stronger every day! Please Don't complete your parent survey today!
Currently, we have a 55% response rate and we NEED and EXPECT 100% participation. A high response rate demonstrates your parental commitment to AHS, which will in turn help with funding for and evaluation of our school.
Deadline for survey completion is Friday, February 4th.
Complete the survey online at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3WSFFHT
or pick up a written survey at the AHS Main Office.
17th Annual Colorado Charter Schools Conference
Free Half Day for Parents
at the Colorado Charter Schools Conference
The Colorado League of Charter Schools is excited to offer parents a FREE, half-day admission to the 17th Annual Colorado Charter School Conference (a $100 value)! Meals not included.
Friday, February 18, 2011
9:00am-12:15pm
Omni Interlocken Resort, Broomfield
500 Interlocken Blvd, Broomfield, CO 80021(map)
More Info: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=pb4fy6bab&et=1104359317800&s=6671&e=0015dfyjjLfKGFCPv8nZPDtmyC8mSbPPL97oz_eg4cBHWAZvEcxtTq_vlsAhhZ27jF_np56ZGd8Sna0NzEvoHLUNpt3GEI181nQmkj8v6j3hoqMvXVOsbfx9H9fjhWvJPljabi9UsPXQrkKMPTUHIcukg==
Free Parent Registration is limited to the following break-out sessions.
Agenda:
8:30 - 9:00AM Registration
9:00 - 10:30AM - Session I: Unique Charter School Parent Involvement Tools and Resources
Charter schools understand, appreciate, and need parent involvement in their schools. Is parent volunteerism stagnant or challenging in your school? Come and learn about new ways to motivate your fellow parents to be more involved, and discover new and creative ways to serve your school community.
Confirmed Panelists: Lindsay Neil, Stand for Children ColoradoKarin Piper, Charter school mom and author of Charter Schools: The Ultimate Handbook for Parents
Renee Anderson, Charter school mom, SkyView Academy, Highlands Ranch
Sandy Hay, Charter school mom, Peak to Peak Charter School, Lafayette, and Parent Engagement Network organizer
10:45 - 12:15PM- Session II: Parent Grassroots Advocacy at the State and Local Level
Charter schools continually face political and financial challenges at both the state and local level. The degree of parents' grassroots involvement can make a significant impact in the outcome of policy, legislation, and elections. Participants will hear from elected officials about the power of grassroots advocacy in effecting positive results for charter schools and parental choice in education.
Confirmed Speakers: Vincent Badolato, Colorado League of Charter Schools Terrance Carroll, former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives
Dr. Debora Scheffel, Colorado State Board of EducationMary Seawell, Denver Public Schools Board of Education
Meghann Silverthorn, Douglas County School District Board of Education
Networking Luncheon (cost of lunch $35, please register and pay for lunch when registering for the free parent workshops)
Parents are invited to stay for lunch to hear from keynote speaker, Peter Groff, CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, while networking with hundreds of charter school parents, leaders, and other supporters. Cost for lunch is $35.
Visit http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=pb4fy6bab&et=1104359317800&s=6671&e=0015dfyjjLfKGHdq9jB3ztbjD2_3ShYNrFd3UACi85RjlHwa2RiLiUyCUm-BBBm0Ll7IasCoa3n_TEtN-_tMLj4eMdeB6YwUydUULqjyvLQuRqAK_pfKNGqt5XfUvZyqYZrx1R2bP6Vwt2WTy3CSHsp4UWzTvtwNL1qCOsNkAeH7LvBu51NJbM9Qg== for more information about the Colorado Charter Schools Conference or email mailto:conference@coloradoleague.org.
SACPIE Vacancies
The State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education (SACPIE) invites applications from candidates to fill a 3-year membership term. As required by State law, a representative of an organization that represents parents and students who advocate in the areas of equality and justice in education, racial justice for youth, and immigrant rights must fill this position.
In accordance with SB09-090, 22-7-301 C.R.S., the Council has been charged with the task of informing public education entities concerning best practices and strategies, aligned with national standards for family-school partnerships, for increasing parent involvement in public education and promoting family and school partnerships in order to help improve the quality of public education and raise the level of students’ academic achievement throughout the state.
The membership appointment will be for a 3-year term. Please be aware that there are no funds to reimburse costs of travel to participate on the Council. Furthermore, members are expected to be active participants in the Council and attend at least 75% of monthly meetings in the metro Denver area, or by audio conference call-in. Meetings are currently held on the third Tuesday of the month from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Individuals interested in serving on the SACPIE council are requested to furnish the following required application information: ·Name and contact information, including mailing address and email address·Preferred title (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., etc.)·Entity you represent, if any·Gender·Ethnicity·Congressional District of residence, if known·Statement of Interest·Information on background (i.e., curriculum vitae and/or resume, that provides enough information for the State Board of Education to make a decision on qualifications).
Please email applications to: Ashante Butcher at ashante.butcher@state.co.us and note in the subject line: “SACPIE Application”.
To apply by U.S. mail, send to: Ashante ButcherColorado Department of Human Services1575 Sherman Street, 1st FloorDenver, Colorado 80203
All applications and supporting material must be received at the email or U.S. mail address above no later than 5:00 p.m. March 4, 2011. Questions regarding the application process may be directed to Ashante Butcher at 303.866.5950 or Sandra Searls at 303.652.2559.
SACPIE will review application materials and recommend candidates for the vacant position to the State Board of Education for approval. This appointee will be joining others from the public school community including: parents, parent information and resource centers, non-profit organizations, statewide parent organizations, school executives, local boards of education, and other designated representatives.
2011 Charter Schools Week
"Charter Schools Rock!"
2011 Charter Schools Week and Rally, April 25-28
Charter Schools Week is a great educational opportunity, not only for students, but for parents, teachers, administrators and Colorado legislators as well. This is also a great chance for the charter school community to come together to voice
support for equitable funding and treatment for Colorado charter school students and to educate elected officials about why "Charter Schools Rock!"
Tour the State Capitol.
Witness proceedings on the House and Senate Floors.
Meet with Elected Officials.
Participate in Forum Discussions about the Legislative Process.
Visit nearby sites such as the Denver Art Museum, Denver Mint, Civic Center Park and more.
Don't Miss the Colorado Charter Schools Rally on April 28 from 11:30am-1:00pm. Featuring guest speakers, musical performances, motivating speeches and more!
Seeking School Performances at the Rally!
The Colorado League of Charter Schools is seeking school performances for this year's Charter Schools Rally, ranging from choirs, bands, dance teams, and more.
If you think your school has what it takes to perform in front of hundreds of charter school supporters, please click here to fill out a short application.
School performances will be selected by March 11. Schools must be willing to transport their student entertainers, as well as any instruments, props, etc. to the State Capitol on Thursday, April 28 and be ready to perform by 11am. Lunch will be provided. Travel subsidies are available.
Questions? Please contact Sarah Pearman at spearman@coloradoleague.org or 303-989-5356, ext. 114.
Monday, January 24, 2011
AHS Weekly Update- Week of Jan. 24th, 2011
It’s another busy week at Animas High. Please take a moment to review the following updates:NWEA Testing
College Night
2011 Snowdown Parade
Got Donuts? Fundraiser
Exhibition events
AHS Fashion Guide
NWEA Testing
This week marks the end of winter NWEA testing here at campus. This is the final round of NWEA assessments for the Class of 2013. The next round of testing will be CSAPs which begin the week of March 14th, 2011. Questions about testing can be forwarded to the Student Services Dept via email at jeff.digiacomo@animashighschool.com
College Night
Next Thursday evening, February 3rd from 5 to 6:30 PM, Animas High School will be hosting a College Night for parents and families of the Class of 2013. Please join us to hear how Animas High will be supporting and guiding our students through the college admissions process. It’s an exciting time for 10th graders as we prepare our college files, practice application and interview skills and get ready for college tours this May. Come hear how you can support AHS in preparing all our students for post secondary success! Questions about this event can be forwarded to the College Counseling Dept. via email at college@animashighschool.com
2011 Snowdown Parade
On this Thursday, Jan. 27th, any students interested in painting props or passing out candy for this year's Snowdown parade should meet in the Lodge after school. We need at least 6 students to dress up like Zombies and pass out candy alongside the AHS float. These "Candy Zombies" will need to be of the kinder, gentler type...we don't want to scare the small children!
Also, the parade team is looking for the following items:
1. Old cans of paint in white, black and red
2. LED Christmas lights (curtain and string styles) – we’re looking for the LED's in pure white (light blue in appearance). We won't need these until Thurs. Jan. 3rd at the latest.
3. Old black sheets or cloth
4. If you don't have any of the above items and still want to help, we will need several bags of mini candies.
All items can be left in the AHS front office.
**Please put your name on everything you want us to return to you!**
If you have any questions please call Tamsin Rohrich, AHS Snowdown Parade Coordinator (970)507-0116 or e-mail her at mattam@centurytel.net
Got Donuts? Fundraiser
We are currently sponsoring a mini-fundraiser, selling doughnuts in conjunction with Skills for Living and Learning. Here's how to participate:
1. Buy 1 dozen glazed doughnuts for $11 or 1 dozen chocolate iced
doughnuts for $12. There is an order form at AHS Main Office.
Make checks payable to: SKILLS FOR LIVING AND LEARNING.
2. Pick-up doughnuts on Saturday, February 5 at the Fun Center:
29603 Hwy 160 from 11:00-3:00 or Skills for Living and Learning in Bayfield from 12:00-3:00.
OR.....
Call 387-8250 to place an order, pick up and pay on February 5th.
Deadline for orders: February 1st.
Exhibition events
I hope everyone was able to see our 10th graders put on a fantastic exhibition event last week. Our students never cease to amaze us with their impactful and inspirational work. The momentum continues with two ninth grade exhibition events coming up soon.
Thursday, February 24th, 2011, Mr. fisher’s 9th grade students will be participating in a Model UN simulation. This annual project has quickly become a “student favorite” and we look forward to hearing what plans this year’s Security Council has in store for the delegates! Stay tuned for more details in future weekly updates.
Also on the 24th, Mrs. McCallum’s 9th grade students will be holding two live performances here on campus at 4 and 6 PM sharp! Join our students as they recreate, through the art of puppetry, Shakespeare’s A Mid Summer Night’s Dream. We are excited to see our student’s perform their 21st century variation of this classic piece of theater and literature.
AHS Fashion Guide
Each day, the faculty and administration at AHS work hard ensuring our students are meeting cultural expectations related to appropriate dress. Beginning with meetings at student orientation and continually reinforced throughout the school year is the school’s expectation for students to adhere to the AHS Fashion Guide (dress code). We are asking parents/families to please make sure students are following the AHS Fashion Guide before heading out the door for school. The support we receive from home allows us to focus on the important work we do with students each day. Parents, if you are confused on what is acceptable dress at AHS or if you do not understand the guidelines, please let us know! Copies of the Fashion Guide (and the entire Student Handbook) are always available here at school or can be sent to you electronically via email from the Assistant Head of
School’s office. Please contact jake.lauer@animashighschool.com with your questions or concerns.
WE ARE CONFIDENT OUR STUDENTS KNOW WHAT’S APPROPRIATE DRESS. HELP US MAKE SURE THEY ARE COMING TO SCHOOL EACH DAY PREPARED AND READY TO LEARN!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Exhibition Event Tonight!
10th Grade Humanities Exhibition Tonight from 5:00-6:30 p.m. at Animas High School.
In John Fisher's Humanities class, students have been studying colonialism and imperialism on the African Continent. Students have read King Leopold's Ghost, a text that uncovers Belgian imperialism in the Congo, have researched African countries of their choosing, and have interviewed individuals from the countries they are studying.
The goal of this project has been to demystify Africa, and to study the continent from the perspective of people who live there. At exhibition, students will be presenting narrated slideshows that discuss history of imperialism/colonialism in their country, and illustrate the perspective of people living in their country today.
In Lori Fisher's humanities class, students have been grappling with the issue of genocide. After doing a case study of the Rwandan Genocide, students have turned their attention to other genocides of the 20th century, and are delving into many questions and issues surrounding their genocides. Topic covered include the motivations of the killers, the experiences of the victims, the long-term consequences of genocide, the role of international involvement, and the social psychology of genocide. Students are building exhibits for our genocide museum, and hope to educate and inspire viewers.
Please note that due to the graphic nature of genocide, these exhibits may not be appropriate for young children. _________________________________________________________
In John Fisher's Humanities class, students have been studying colonialism and imperialism on the African Continent. Students have read King Leopold's Ghost, a text that uncovers Belgian imperialism in the Congo, have researched African countries of their choosing, and have interviewed individuals from the countries they are studying.
The goal of this project has been to demystify Africa, and to study the continent from the perspective of people who live there. At exhibition, students will be presenting narrated slideshows that discuss history of imperialism/colonialism in their country, and illustrate the perspective of people living in their country today.
In Lori Fisher's humanities class, students have been grappling with the issue of genocide. After doing a case study of the Rwandan Genocide, students have turned their attention to other genocides of the 20th century, and are delving into many questions and issues surrounding their genocides. Topic covered include the motivations of the killers, the experiences of the victims, the long-term consequences of genocide, the role of international involvement, and the social psychology of genocide. Students are building exhibits for our genocide museum, and hope to educate and inspire viewers.
Please note that due to the graphic nature of genocide, these exhibits may not be appropriate for young children. _________________________________________________________
Reminder for Parents and Students....
EXHIBITION IS TODAY from 5:00-6:30 at AHS
Exhibition is mandatory for all 10th Grade students.
Professional Dress: It's formal for students. Boys should be in slacks, dress shoes, and button up shirts with ties. Girls should be in slacks or appropriate shirts, with a business like top (nice sweater, button up shirt, etc)
Event Parking: Please park on 2nd Avenue and parking areas in the vicinity. We will have many community members at this event and parking is limited.
Because of the graphic nature of this particular exhibition, please do not bring young children.
This is an opportunity for our students to show off their projects and answer questions. We encourage you to see lots of student projects while you are there and interact with many of the students.
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