Charter School Students Surpass Statewide Average in Math, Trail by One Point in English Language Arts
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, and New York City Center for Charter School Excellence Chief Executive Officer James Merriman today announced record performance by New York City charter school students on English Language Arts and math exams administered by the State. New York City charter school students, who are likelier to be African-American or Hispanic and eligible for free school lunch than the rest of the City and the State, outperformed students in the rest of the City and State in math and trailed by one point in English Language Arts.
Overall, 84.9% of charter school students met or exceeded grade-level standards in math, an increase of 7.7 percentage points over last year. By comparison, 70.5% of other public school students in districts with charter schools, 74.3% of students Citywide, and 80.7% of students Statewide met or exceeded standards. In English Language Arts, 67.1% of charter school students met or exceeded grade-level standards, an increase of 10.7 points over last year. By comparison, 53.6% of other public school students in districts with charter schools, 57.6% of students Citywide, and 68.5% of students Statewide met or exceeded standards.
In three New York City charter schools, every student met or exceeded grade-level standards in math (with at least 20 students tested): Girls Preparatory Charter School in Manhattan, Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy II, and Excellence Charter School of Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Brooklyn.
Charter school students performed notably where students have historically struggled—in the middle grades. In math, 80.9% of all charter school students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades met or exceeded grade-level standards. By comparison, 61.7% of other middle-school students in districts with charter schools, 66.7% of middle-school students Citywide, and 80.9% of middle school students in the rest of State met or exceeded grade-level standards. In English Language Arts, 63% of charter school students in the middle grades met or exceeded standards. By comparison, 47% of other middle school students in districts with charter schools, 51.7% of middle-school students Citywide, and 70.8% of middle school students in the rest of the State met or exceeded standards.
“The outstanding gains made by students in charter schools this year show what a great choice these schools are providing for thousands of families across the City,” Mayor Bloomberg said. “Results like these are especially gratifying for those of us who worked last year to convince lawmakers in Albany to increase the cap on the number of charter schools we can open. Next year, with nearly 80 charter schools operating in the City, many more families will have the opportunity to choose to send their children to a charter school."
“Charter schools in New York City immensely benefit the 18,000 children who attend them and remind the rest of us what is possible in public education,” Chancellor Klein said. “Our charter schools serve a higher percentage of poor and African-American or Hispanic kids than other City schools, yet their students are scoring at the same level in reading as the rest of the State and at higher levels in math. These results are proof that that all children, irrespective of their background, can succeed if given the opportunity.”
“What is most impressive is how consistent these numbers are,” Mr. Merriman said. “In almost every grade and in both subjects, public charter schools performed at their highest levels yet.”
“The three pillars of the charter school movement are leadership, autonomy and accountability,” said Sy Fliegel, President of the Center for Educational Innovation – Public Education Association. “What these encouraging test results reveal is that strong leaders, given the opportunity to manage schools and adopt their own ideas, can be fully accountable to students, parents, and the wider community to produce outstanding educational results.”
“These scores show what is possible when a school district embraces education reform, including charter schools, rather than fighting it. Joel Klein and the incredibly hard-working charter school leaders and teachers in New York City have set a standard and bar for all of us to meet,” said Nelson Smith, President of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
“It is an honor to be a part of the charter school movement as a member of the board of Harlem Village Academies-an entrepreneurial approach to education reform that is raising the bar for urban academic achievement,” said Tiki Barber, former New York Giant and Board Member of Harlem Village Academy. “New York City’s roster of charter schools is demonstrating that new and innovative ideas can improve our education system and ensure that all children can receive a quality education and overcome whatever challenges life has thrown their way.”
“Today’s results are a tribute to the autonomy, the independence and the flexibility that being a charter school provides,” said Jabali Sawicki, School Leader at Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant. “Our autonomy has proved an invaluable advantage for our school leaders and teachers, enabling them to respond more swiftly to concerns, provide new learning and teaching opportunities, and use innovative teaching methods. These results prove indisputably that autonomy breeds success.”
“So many of our students are from immigrant families that could never have dreamed that their child would have the true opportunity to achieve their full potential," said Marilyn Calo, School Leader from the Family Life Academy. "It's a phenomenal achievement that our academy—a community-grown charter school in which 45 percent of the students are second language learners and more than 10 percent are special needs—still outperforms our district counterparts. Charter schools have given those who never before had the opportunity at a full education a chance at the full possibilities of life.”
“We work at charter schools because we strongly believe that a responsible education system is one that knows every child can succeed, provides autonomy in exchange for accountability, encourages innovation not stagnation, and is not afraid to challenge the status quo when it doesn’t benefit our young people,” said Stacey Gauthier, Co-Leader of The Renaissance Charter School.
This school year, 8,700 students from 50 New York City charter schools took the 2007-08 English Language Arts and math exams, which were administered this winter to students in grades three through eight. Ten New York City charter schools in operation during the 2007-08 academic year do not yet have students in the testing grades.
New York City has 60 charter schools serving more than 18,000 students. Charter schools are independent public schools that admit students by open lottery and are located in communities of greatest need. They are governed by a not-for-profit board of trustees and held accountable to meet or exceed academic and operational goals. All New York City public charter schools are held to the same academic, health, safety and civil rights standards required of conventional public schools in New York State. About 62% of the City’s public charter school students are African-American compared to 32% for the City; 30% are Hispanic compared to 39% for the City. This fall 18 new public charter schools will open in New York City.
Click here to view charter school scoring data.
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Contact: David Cantor / Melody Meyer (DOE) (212) 374-5141
Jeff Maclin (NYC Center for Charter School Excellence) (212) 437-8310, jmaclin@nycchartercenter.org
Stefan Friedman (NYC Center for Charter School Excellence) (917) 207-6801, friedman@knickskd.com