New Data Fuel Current Charter School Debate

Debate over whether students do better or worse in charter schools raged on last week as a Harvard University researcher released new data suggesting that 4th graders in charter schools across the nation score higher on state exams than their counterparts at regular public schools nearby.

The new findings run counter to those put forward last month by the American Federation of Teachers. Analyzing unpublicized data from the National Assessment on Educational Progress, the teachers' union found that charter school students lag behind their peers in other kinds of public schools on the national reading and mathematics exams.

That study drew heated criticism from policymakers, researchers, and charter school proponents, who called the findings misleading. (See "AFT Charter School Study Sparks Heated National Debate," Sept.1, 2004.) The controversy also prompted Caroline M. Hoxby, the author of the new study, to make public data that paint a very different picture...