A Stanford University researcher says public charter schools in Tennessee aren’t just outperforming their traditional school counterparts, they’re doing so with students who come from significantly more challenging backgrounds.
Stanford’s Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO) director Mache Raymond presented her research to Tennessee education leaders at a forum Thursday morning hosted by the Tennessee State Collaboration on Education (SCORE).
The CREDO study evaluated 1.8 million public charter school students from 2014 to 2019 and compared them with their “virtual twins” from traditional public schools these students would likely have attended, with similar test scores and traits.
“We look at all of the other schools in that geographic area that lose students to that school,” said Raymond. “That pool of district schools then is where we try to find our matches because it’s the closest thing we can get to, you’re sitting in the same seat.”
The “apples to apples” comparison found public charter school students nationwide achieved an additional 16 days of reading and 6 days of math compared to their traditional public-school counterparts based on a 180-day school year. This disparity is even more prominent in Tennessee where charter students gained an additional 34 days in reading and 39 days in math.
No other southern state had public charter school students reaching 25 additional days of learning in either subject and Raymond says Tennessee charters truly stand out compared to other states nationwide.
“What you’re getting in these extra days of learning is a higher productivity of learning in your schools,” said Raymond. “You’re getting more output from your teachers in 180 days than the teachers down the street.”
Tennessee’s performance in the study is even more noteworthy when you consider the demographics of the students that attend public charter schools here.
The CREDO study found Tennessee public charter schools are serving more students with the greatest need, including economically disadvantaged and students of color, than even nearby traditional public schools. Those students are also seeing important gains.
Tennessee’s Hispanic public charter school students achieved an astonishing 76 additional days of learning in reading and 103 days in math compared to their traditional school peers. Both are significantly higher than the national average.
Black public charter school students in Tennessee saw smaller learning day gains but still outperformed public charter school students nationwide with an additional 23 days of learning in reading and 17 days in math compared to their “virtual twins” in traditional public schools.
“You have been successful in the face of having a more challenging population to educate. And that’s something to really celebrate,” said Raymond.
Success Through Collaboration
This study is CREDO’s third to compare public charter schools to traditional schools. The center is working on a fourth report that will take a closer look at the reasons behind the findings in the study.
Charter leaders in Tennessee held a round table discussion Tuesday to discuss CREDO’s findings, including leaders from public charter schools in Nashville and Memphis.
“I think that we should really own the results that are coming out of this study,” said Purpose Preparatory Academy founder Lagra Newman. “The work we are doing is significantly enhancing the quality of life of our children.”
Hyde Family Foundation Program Director for High-Quality Education Holly Coleman agreed and gave one opinion for why Tennessee charters are doing so well. Coleman says there is more collaboration between charter educators now enabling them to learn from each other.
She says that wasn’t always the case.
“Early on in my time in the charter sector there was a little more competition. We were competing for students. We were competing for talent,” said Coleman. “I think people have realized that if the charter down the street does well, you know, my charter can do well and that raises the sector right.”
