Two stories in the Aug. 30, 2006, issue of Education Week about a National Center for Education Statistics-sponsored study comparing charter and regular public school performance (“NCES Calls for Sticking to the Stats” and “Reanalysis of NAEP Scores Finds Charter Schools Lagging”) presented data on student test scores incorrectly. The study found that 4th grade students in a nationally representative sample of charter schools scored 4.2 points behind students in regular public schools in reading, and 4.7 points behind regular public school students in mathematics, when various student characteristics were considered. Those score differences were measured on the National Assessment of Educational Progress achievement scale of zero to 500.
A version of this article appeared in the September 06, 2006 edition of Education Week
