A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Speeches and Testimony

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Statement by Gerald N. Tirozzi

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education

A Study of Charter Schools: The First-Year Report 1997

June 26, 1997

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss our first-year report, AA Study of Charter Schools. The charter schools movement is one of the most exciting and creative innovations in public school reform. Quickly gaining momentum in many States across the country, charter schools have the potential to demonstrate innovative approaches for raising academic standards, empowering educators, and expanding choice and accountability in public education. Charter schools also offer an opportunity for parents and community members to become deeply involved in the design and daily life of schools.

The Department of Education is funding a four-year, statutorily authorized study of charter schools. This study will provide research-based information that can guide policymakers, legislators, and practitioners. One element of the study is an annual survey of charter schools, which will expand each year to include new charter schools. The survey will include an analysis of student achievement and demographics of student populations over several years in charter schools compared to national norms and comparison schools. The study will provide descriptive information about various aspects of charter schools, including the number and types of charter schools that are in operation, the factors that affect their operation, the impact of charter schools on their students, and the effect of charter schools on public education generally.

At the recommendation of Congress, the Department of Education is sponsoring a national study of charter schools, conducted under contract with RPP International of Berkeley, California. Over the course of four years, the study will monitor charter schools as they develop. It will examine research and policy questions in three areas. First, it will answer implementation questions about charter schools, such as how they differ from other public schools, what their student bodies look like, and how State policies affect their development. Second, the study will examine the impact of charter schools on students, such as their impact on student learning and the factors that lead to improvements in student achievement. Third, the study will assess the effect of charter schools on public education, including how charter laws affect local and State systems of education and what lessons can be learned from charter schools that may apply to other public schools.

Researchers will compare charter schools to other schools using national norms and to students in a small group of matched comparison schools willing to use the same assessment instrument. Researchers will examine how charter schools differ from other public schools on goals, expectations, curricula, teacher qualifications, methods of assessing achievement, actual academic achievement, and the types of students they serve.

The four-year study will include:

• an annual survey of all charter schools;
• an analysis of student demographics in a stratified random sample of 72 charter schools;
• a longitudinal study of student achievement at the 72 schools, using a criterion referenced test, developed by teachers, and geared to assess the students' knowledge, skills, and problem solving abilities in mathematics and language arts. (For schools that do not wish to use this multiple-choice assessment instrument, researchers will use assessments from the New Standards Project or another alternative testing procedure.);
• and site visits and testing at 28 matched comparison schools. Researchers plan to locate comparison schools that can be matched to more than one charter school. However, some charters, such as the Minnesota School for the Deaf, will not have matches because of their unique nature.

In May of 1997, the first report for the National Study was released. It includes the first definitive survey of all charter schools, including 90 percent of all charter schools in operation as of the 1995-96 school year.

Before getting into the details of what the findings are, I want to outline briefly the steps taken to ensure a sound study. The Department encouraged widespread competition for the contract to study charter schools. It also sponsored rigorous reviews by well-known experts and the public of both the research methodology and study design as well as the survey analysis and report. The Department also helped the contractor obtain an unusually high rate of return on the survey -- 89 percent -- by sending two letters encouraging participation.

The Department has disseminated an executive summary to over 5,000 recipients, including Members of Congress, State legislators, State education policymakers, charter school operators, and others. The full report is available upon request.

As of July, 1996, 25 States and the District of Columbia had adopted charter legislation. Since Mississippi passed legislation last month, and Pennsylvania passed legislation last week, that brings the number to 27 States and the District. There were 252 charter schools as of January, 1996, and 428 as of January, 1997.

The study found that each State follows a distinctive approach to charter school development which affects the number and types of charter schools in the State. State laws vary in terms of the number of charter schools that are permitted, the agencies that have authority to grant charter school status, who can create charter schools, and the personnel policies of charter schools.

Most charter schools are small. About 60 percent enroll fewer than 200 students, while only 16 percent of other public schools are of comparable size. Schools started from scratch tend to be the smallest, while schools that previously were a non-chartered public school are larger. The size difference between charter schools and traditional public schools is most marked at the secondary level, where almost 80 percent of charter schools have enrollments of less than 200 students, compared to about 25 percent of other public secondary schools. Grade level distribution varies considerably, with charter schools more often serving a K-8 or a K-12 distribution than other public schools. Over half of all charter schools are newly created; almost one-third were pre-existing public schools; a little over one-tenth were pre-existing private schools.

Charter schools serve a diverse student population. Approximately half of all charter school students are students of color. Some States have higher percentages of charter schools serving students of color than do other public schools in the State; a few have a somewhat higher percentage of charter schools that serve predominantly white students, compared to the percentage of other public schools in that State.

The charter schools in the ten States surveyed report that 7.4 percent of their students had received special education services prior to enrollment, a slightly lower proportion than the national average of 10.4 percent. Exceptions are charter schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin which serve substantially more special education students than other schools in those States. A number of charter schools are designed to serve special needs students -- 15 schools that responded had student bodies with more than 25 percent special education students; two enroll only students with disabilities.

Charter schools serve a smaller proportion of limited English proficient students than do other public schools in their State, except in Minnesota and Massachusetts, where charter schools serve higher percentages of limited English proficient students than the average of other schools in their State.

Most charter schools report that they are eligible for Title I funding, but only about half of those that report eligibility receive funding. Further study is needed to determine why some schools that are eligible for Title I funds are not receiving them. Reasons might include administrative issues or lack of understanding in new schools about Title I eligibility requirements and the process districts use to award Title I funds to schools. Or, most likely, it may be that those schools do not have higher than average populations of poor children, which means that they are eligible but, under the rules, would not get Title I funds.

Charter schools are founded for diverse reasons. Charter schools reported that they most often formed to realize an educational vision. Many others seek to serve a special student population, though most reflect the demographic characteristics of their area. Charter school developers reported that charters afford them an opportunity to pursue educational goals that they feel they can accomplish more effectively with fewer restrictions and stable financial support.

Resource limitations are a pervasive problem for charter schools. Lack of start-up funds was mentioned most frequently -- by 59 percent of charter schools -- as an obstacle to success. Among newly created schools, 68 percent cited lack of start-up funds as a problem. This is an area that the Federal charter schools program directly addresses because we pay for planning and initial implementation of new charter schools. Other resource problems cited include lack of planning time, inadequate operating funds, and inadequate facilities.

Charter schools also reported resistance from other entities such as State or local boards of education, State or local educational agencies, unions or bargaining units.

Schools in the survey did not often cite regulatory problems. In fact, Federal regulations were only cited as a problem in six percent of those schools surveyed.

As this initial survey points out, there are several emerging issues in charter schools. This can be expected with any new program, especially an endeavor that is growing as quickly as charter schools. We believe that early research and evaluation is critical so that problems will be identified and addressed early. To further explore some of these emerging issues, the Department is investing in several additional research and development studies.

We have issued a joint OERI-OESE Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) calling for proposals for research and development in seven categories. The Department is currently reviewing applications for research and development. We are contemplating awarding one research contract in each of the four research categories, and two to four development contracts in each of the three development areas. We hope to make awards by late August or early September. The seven categories include:

• research on charter schools and students with disabilities;
• research on other equity issues in charter school programs;
• research on finance issues affecting charter schools;
• research on accountability for charter schools;
• development and assessment of a model leadership training program for charter schools;
• development and assessment of a demonstration program for fostering cross-fertilization of ideas and practices among charter schools and other public schools;
• and development and field testing of a model outreach program designed to attract community institutions, or such key participants as parents, teachers and principals, into founding and operating charter schools.

Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with you and other members of this Committee in a bipartisan fashion to promote support for and understanding of charter schools. The Department regards charter schools as a particularly promising approach to educational reform and improvement, but we recognize that it is still a relatively new approach. We understand the importance of careful study of charter schools as they unfold so that we can test the concept and determine those factors that lead to successful charter schools. This concludes my prepared remarks. My colleagues and I would be happy to respond to any questions you may have.