More Resources NAEP Pilot Study of Charter Schools Achievement in Charter Schools & Regular Public Schools

The following is a statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige regarding The National Assessment of Educational Progress: America's Charter Schools, a report from the Department's National Center for Education Statistics:

"There are some useful findings in this pilot study on charter schools, particularly in terms of quantifying the types of families that have chosen these educational alternatives. Charters tend to serve students whom the traditional public school system left behind years ago.

"Given its findings, this study cannot and should not be used as a red flag by those with an agenda of trying to stop the charter schools movement in its tracks. The analysis clearly shows that when you control for race, there are no statistically significant differences between charters and traditional public schools. This pilot study simply measures the characteristics of charter school students, as opposed to measuring the effectiveness of the schools themselves.

"As a result, as the report states, 'the unique characteristics of charter schools require additional information to be collected.' Harvard University's Caroline Hoxby released yesterday one analysis that does exactly that. It found that when charter students were compared to students in comparable traditional public schools, they in fact outperformed them in both reading and math. Her study points to the need for these vital educational choices—if the testimony of hundreds of thousands of parents is not enough."

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