Temporary Conclusion

Over the last 4 posts I have been able to determine a few things....1. My question is awesome as there is a lot of debatable information available on it! 2. Unless you fully trust one of the sources you find, you are NOT going to get a black and white answer to this question... the more I think about it, the more I wonder, even if there WAS a definite answer to my question, how long would that remain the answer?  3. You really have to be willing to do your own research and determine what's important to you, based on your personal beliefs.

For my children, the charter school they are currently enrolled in will be the school they stay at...for now. I think as a parent I tend to over think the decisions I make for my kids. How is it going to effect them in the future? How does it effect them now? Do I have all the current information so I can feel confident in my decisions? What is it about their school that I do like? Are there things I don't like, and how much do I dislike them?

There is no easy answer when it comes to making this decision. I believe going off the school's test scores was a good place for me to start, and the interactions I've had with the school have reinforced my decision.

I also think, above all else, the fact that I do care about what and how my kids are learning will continue to ensure they are getting a good education.

Good luck to anyone else starting down this path. I believe I have left some pretty good footprints to follow!

And I thought I asked a fairly simple question...

I came across a 104 page report on charter schools. It was published by CREDO (Center for research on Education Outcomes). It has an excellent vision statement, published in 2013, and is supported by Stanford University. I thought I had finally found answers to several questions I had asked! To my disappointment, the information presented was just a little overwhelming. I thought I was asking a simple question and was convinced I just wasn't finding the answer for some unknown reason (not due to my lack of trying). In this study they complicate it by breaking down the results by state, ethnicity of the child, if the children they are testing are in the same school the following year, if the child attended the same school the previous year. It's much more complicated then I thought! These were all things  I had put no thought into. At the end of the long report what did I get??? The same answer I've been getting everywhere else! It really depends on the school itself. I was feeling really confident in this resource until I can across another article published by NPR, that put these statistics in laymen terms for me. It basically told me that 1/3 of kids do better in a charter school then a public school. It ends by asking a question relatively close to mine: "Are charter school students learning more than kids in traditional public schools?" It states that National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and Harvard University will be bringing researches to Washington for the first time ever to try and answer this question. Maybe I'm just asking prematurely.

Most articles I have come across talk about the rising up of charter schools. This still leads me to believe that charter schools have to be better. If they aren't, then  why the big push for more? Furthermore, if charter schools become more popular then public schools, won't they become the 'norm'? What's going to prevent all public schools from closing and forcing kids to be assigned to charter schools? If this is the desired outcome won't charter schools eventually essentially be public schools? In my mind it seems like all we're doing is changing the 'type' of school kids go to, but in the end, is it really going to matter? Maybe at that point public schools will be perceived as the better alternative...Maybe it's not really about one being better over the other. Maybe it's more about the parents feeling like they have a say in where their child will attend school instead of being assigned to one by default of their physical address.

Do parents make a bigger deal out of this issue than is necessary?

Does it really have more to do with how the parent's handle education in the home? 

As always, if anyone has an opinion on this or insight into one side or the other I would love to hear from you!

More questions, less answers

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't clearly stated what I am considering a charter school. The website America's Charter Schools, IES Institute of education sciences  helped me with a definition. It basically states that a charter school is a public school of choice. Meaning that they serve as an alternate to the regular public schools where children are assigned to go. I am not looking into any schools that specialize in one area or another, just general education. This website also gave statistics relevant as of 2012 stating that in Colorado, there are 1813 total schools. There are only 178 total charter schools. Some other interesting facts it lists are that 52% of students in 8th grade test proficient in math, 67% are proficient in reading and 74% of these students graduate high school. It also gave statistics on the amount of elementary schools that have core classes taught by "Highly qualified teachers", defined as teachers that have a bachelor's degree, full state certification or licensure, and prove that they know each subject they teach. All the parents will be happy to see that since 2004-05 Colorado has been in the 92+% range with 2011-2012 ending at 99.70%.

I also found a state website, that brought up a disturbing fact: Colorado doesn't require teachers in charter schools to have a  current Colorado license, but they must meet all the other requirements of a highly qualified teacher. This site provided more information on how to start a charter school in Colorado, and not information that I was seeking.

However, neither website addressed the pros or cons of teachers having a Colorado license. They both satisfied my basic concern, and that is that the teachers must have a degree and know about the subjects they are teaching. Since the first website also said its statistics are based on "all elementary schools" in Colorado, I feel I can safely assume that the quality of teachers in both schools are pretty equal. (At least as far as their education). Also the first paragraph is giving me statistics on tests done by 8th graders, and I'm more interested in the earlier years.

I have many more questions. What are the statistics for public schools? Do they test kids younger than 8th grade? Are the tests they perform the same from school to school? I also wonder if they take into consideration at any point how long the child has been in the charter school or public school when they get results on these tests. Is there really a good way to know which type of school is better for your child? I strive to find a source that will give me more test scores or statistics comparing our public schools to our charter schools. It seems every article I read ends with saying "Do your homework and find a school you like". Hopefully I can find a better starting point for parents!

The researching begins...

  An article I found in NPR tells me how the charter schools are (or were, this was in 2008) known for having a religious touch to them. It does state that it's open to all students and religion is really not incorporated in the teaching. It also states how a particular school (The Classical Academy) was pretty taken back when they found out students were drinking because the uniforms hide the diversity of students attitudes and interests. It goes on to say because of the high values the school has they are able to overcome things like the drinking. What I'm more interested in, is that this charter school ranked in the top 10 schools in Colorado based on students test scores.

  I think this source was really just trying to push charter school's as a good thing and tell the public that they aren't really based on religion. I think they brought up the incident with drinking to show the charter school is stronger then a public school based on its values to overcome these things like a family would, rather then how we think a school would. This does raise more questions to me though of how are kids able to express themselves as individuals when they all wear uniforms? Do they act out more to show they are different than their peers? Do they value the idea of being individuals? Does this teach them that being like everyone else is the normal, and how will this affect them when they have to deal with people who are 'different'? Do the uniforms do any good in not judging a child based on their parents social class? Do they provide less distractions? Perhaps they help kids interact with kids they normally wouldn't in a public setting based on some preconceived notions of the kinds of people they are, and allow kids to really judge someone based on their character instead.

  Another article I read in PBS opened my eyes to some new aspects I hadn't really though about before. This article states charter schools do receive some public funding but the schools are run by private groups. It states less than 5% of students are enrolled in charter schools. It states critics fight that school funds are already limited and charter schools take these funds, making it harder for public schools to keep teachers. A Stanford university study in 2009 found 17% of charter schools had a better education, 46% provided comparable education and 37% provided worse education then public schools. It states some charters emphasize on "character education" like perseverance, respect, self-confidence, curiosity, self-control, grit and discipline rather then things that can be measured by tests.

  I understand testing kids isn't always the best way to measure how a teacher is doing their job, but I also understand that EVERY job has some type of measurement to ensure the employee is doing their job efficiently. 'Fair' or not.  While I agree that these characteristics are important for people to learn, isn't this putting more stress on our teachers? What happened to teaching them the alphabet and basic math skills? This article lead me to feel that charter schools are perhaps putting even more responsibility on teachers to raise our kids then they already had. Although I haven't read much about the funding yet, I can't fully say I agree with being able to employ teachers. My kids have gone to both types of schools and I have found with both charter schools they have attended, the teachers were much more willing to try different teaching approaches with my kids then the ones in the public schools. My own conclusion? The teachers in the public schools have a guaranteed job, regardless of my kid understanding what is being taught or not. They were also much more tenured and gave me the impression that they teach one way, and their way is always the right way.

  I am excited to further my research on this topic and if anyone has any personal insight on one school or the other, feel free to share it!

 

Charter School vs. Public School

To what extent do kids attending charter schools during elementary years receive a better education than children attending a public school? For the purpose of this blog, a charter school will be defined as a school that still receives public funding, doesn't charge tuition, and is held to the same state regulations that public schools are. To narrow down my research more I will be emphasizing the impacts on the schools in Colorado.

This question is often a topic of discussion for any parents getting ready to enroll their children in school. The decision of where your child will receive the best education early on is even more complicated now as we are given so many options from what school, to the type of school. Other questions I have include why do the test scores vary so much between these types of schools? What is the real reason the two types of schools exist? Is there a huge difference in the types of teachers that the schools employ? How does the funding for these types of school differ, or does that even really matter? Does one school differ from the other more because of how they discipline children? Do they differ so much because of the expectations placed on the students?

To explore this concern, I think I will be able to find some websites that are not biased to either type of school. I'm sure there are some government websites that don't skew the numbers. Since schools are also regulated by the state, I'm sure there are also some articles out there on how school funds are used (teachers salaries, programs etc.). Perhaps I will be able to see some differences in these numbers that may make sense on how it effects the students that go there. I also think charter schools have been around long enough now, to see if getting them in this type of school early on effects them as they continue to progress though out the remaining school years. If I dig deep enough perhaps I can find interviews, or personal blogs from students who attended both types of school, just to get a students perspective on it as well.
This question is important because there is not enough emphasis on our children's education. Parent's need to have all the information available to them to give their children every opportunity to excel at getting a good education. I believe starting with elementary school, kids are exposed to the expectations of homework, getting good grades, continuing education, and making friends they very well may have the rest of their lives. The real questions about the schools are not if you want to send your child to a school where they require uniforms or not, the real question is which type of school is going to get your child a head start on succeeding in life. The brutal truth is, not all schools are equal.

Testing

My test post.