Indianapolis charter students are dramatically outperforming similar students in district-run schools, concludes a new study by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO).
Growth scores from 2018-19 show 116 days of additional learning in math, 64 days in reading for charter students, notes the Mind Trust.
Black and Hispanic students showed even stronger gains:
Black students in charter schools achieved growth equivalent to:
144 days of additional learning in math relative to Black students in Indianapolis traditional public schools.
86 days of additional learning in English Language Arts
Hispanic students in charter schools achieved growth equivalent to
109 days of additional learning in math
73 days of additional learning in ELA
Low-income and special-education students and English Learners also outperformed district students, especially in math.
Students in the district’s innovation network schools gained 47 days in math and 38 days in reading compared to students in traditional public schools. The network includes “charter schools that apply to be part of the district’s portfolio of autonomous programs, totally new district schools or district schools that require, or want, rebooting,” writes Beth Hawkins on The 74.
Black, Hispanic, low-income, special-ed and English Learner students in the network outperformed students in traditional public schools.
During the pandemic, Indianapolis Public Schools saw a 2 percent rise in enrollment due to the popularity of innovation schools, reports Hawkins.
Network schools enrolled 42 percent more students over two years, while the city’s traditional schools lose nearly 15 percent of students. Fewer than 60 percent of students “now attend schools operated by the district’s central office,” she writes.