SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS SAN JOSE, CA FRIDAY 290,115 DEC 4 1996
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Reality often short of rhetoric
Study criticizes charter schools ssm
BY NICKANDERSON Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — Charter schools, tile publicly funded but independently operated institu tions that have become increas ingly popular nationwide, often fall short of the sweeping reforms their advocates promise, accord ing to a new University of Califor nia-Los Angeles study. The report, made public Thurs day, comes as California prepares for a major expansion of charter schools under a new law taking effect in January. According to the two-year study of 17 charter schools across California, most are not being held accountable for improved academic performance. The study also found that contrary to state requirement, some schools have not taken steps to make their stu dent populationreflect the ethnic nnd racial makeup of their sur rounding school dislriels. The study said charter schools and conventional public schools have no forum for swapping ideas or learning from each other. The study, one of the most indepth to date on an educational movement that has grown to more than 1,000 schools across ti\e country in the past decade, gave kudos to those charter schools that have inspired parents and teachers and compiled a re cord of accomplishment It found, for example, charter schools have fostered an esprit de corps in their faculty and that most are employing teachers with state credentials. "We're notfrying to say charter schools have failed," said Amy Stuart Wells, the lead investigator and a UCLA associate education professor. "We're saying there's a rhetoric around this movement that doesn't match the reality." Charter-school proponents called the report slipshod and bi ased. Jeanne Allen, president of
the nter Ce for Education Refo rm, based in Washington, D.C., said that most of the nearly 50 studies nationwide have turned up evi dence ofsuccess. UCLA researchers studied charter schools from spring 199C to spring 1998 in 10 California school districts. The researchers observed schools firsthand and conducted more than 460 inter views of parents, teachers, educa tors and others with knowledge of the schools. The districts and schools were kept anonymous, Wells said, following university policy. The top concern was academic performance. The study noted that those who run charter schools make a bargain with the state: In exchange for greater freedom the schools will be held more accountable for results. The study said many charters fail to set specific academic goals measurable by lest scores or oili er objective criteria. Difficulty in measuring prog ress has been compounded by the lack of a consistent statewide stu dent achievement test and the fact that charter schools vary widely in their approach. Some tailor lessons to racial or ethnic groups. Some are . "back-to-basics." Others focus on "hands-on" learning. Some offer bilingual teaching; some do not. Advocates often claim that charter schools can do more with less. But in practice, the research ers found that charter schools are forced to scramble for funds — both public and private. The report also found the de mographic profile of charter schools isfrequently out of sync with the racial and ethnic mix of surrounding districts. In 10 of 17 scliools studied, at least one racial or ethnic group was under- or over-represented by 15 percent or more compared to the local district