Study: EMO Schools Don't Outscore Other Phila. Schools

San Francisco

Philadelphia students who attend public middle schools managed by outside groups are making learning gains that generally are no greater than than those of their counterparts at regular district-run middle schools, according to results from a study of that school system’s improvement efforts.

The study, which was conducted by a pair of researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, was released here this week at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, a Washington-based group representing 25,000 scholars.

The findings are important because they come as policymakers are increasingly turning to outside groups to manage troubled public schools. Just last month, Maryland state school officials, citing a provision of the federal No Child Left Behind law, announced controversial plans to take over 11 failing middle and high schools in Baltimore and turn them over...