School Choice & Charters News in Brief

Paper Suggests Scaling Up Lessons From Charters

By Sean Cavanagh — October 09, 2012 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Those who believe that charter schools have the potential to boost educational opportunities for large numbers of students across the United States also acknowledge a simple truth: Charters today occupy a relatively small slice of the public school market and at their current rate of growth, it would take many years for them to reach a substantial portion of the population.

In a new paper published by the Hamilton Project, Harvard University economics professor Roland Fryer addresses that limitation and points to a way around it: exporting best practices from charters into regular public school systems, particularly struggling ones. Mr. Fryer says preliminary results from demonstration projects he and other researchers are conducting in Denver and Houston show that school systems can benefit from incorporating charter-school-style practices in scheduling, the use of data, tutoring, and other areas.

The researchers examined data from Denver and Houston and found that students in groups of schools that implemented a series of practices improved their test scores. Those practices included replacing some teachers and principals (some of whom left voluntarily); refining the use of data and using it to monitor student progress; establishing intensive tutoring; extending the school day and school year; and setting higher individual goals for students.

The increase in student test scores resulting from those policies is similar to those found in the most-effective charters, said Mr. Fryer, who once served as chief equality officer in the New York City schools, working on teacher performance pay, student motivation, and other issues. The results in Denver and Houston are preliminary but promising, he writes, because they suggest that educational strategies in play in charters can work in other settings.

The researchers also place a price tag on making those changes: $2,000 per student.

The Hamilton Project, named after Alexander Hamilton, makes policy proposals aimed at strengthening the American economy. It is based at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the October 10, 2012 edition of Education Week as Paper Suggests Scaling Up Lessons From Charters

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Choice & Charters Q&A How the Charter School Movement Is Changing: A Top Charter Advocate Looks Back and Ahead
Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, plans to step down as leader of the group at the end of the year.
6 min read
Nina Rees, CEO of the National Public Charter School Association.
Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, emphasizes that she has "always thought of [charter schools] as laboratories of innovation with the hopes of replicating those innovations in district-run schools."
Courtesy of McLendon Photography
School Choice & Charters Lead NAEP Official Faces Scrutiny Over Improper Spending Alleged at N.C. Charter School
Peggy Carr, the National Center for Education Statistics' head, is vice chair of the school's board and part-owner of school properties.
7 min read
Peggy Carr, Commissioner of the National Center for Education, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press about the National Assessment of Education Process on Oct. 21, 2022, in Washington.
Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press about the National Assessment of Education Process on Oct. 21, 2022, in Washington. Carr is facing scrutiny over allegations of improper spending by a North Carolina charter for which she serves as vice chair and landlord.
Alex Brandon/AP
School Choice & Charters 3 Decades In, Charter Schools Continue to Face Legal Challenges
Debates are raging in Kentucky and Montana over whether charter schools violate state constitutions.
6 min read
Illustration of a school building with a Venn diagram superimposed
iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters More Young Kids Opted for Private School After COVID Hit
Newly released federal data shed light on where some students who left public schools during the pandemic ended up.
3 min read
A teacher with group of students standing in private school campus courtyard and talking
E+