Delivering on the Charter School Promise: Improving Academic Accountability for Charter Schools in California

• In Event: School Choice Policies and Practices

Abstract

This session details the efforts of the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) to develop a research-based academic performance framework for the nearly 1,000 charter schools in California and use that knowledge to advocate for stronger accountability standards for its own member schools and all charters statewide. Using regression-based predictive modeling, CCSA researchers analyzed charter school performance while filtering out many of the non-school effects on student achievement, and found that charter schools are much more likely than non-charters to both far over- and under-perform based on their student background. Through extensive member engagement and advocacy, CCSA acted on these findings to introduce pass legislation to significantly raise standards in order to close persistently under-performing schools.

Authors

• Samantha Olivieri, California Charter Schools Association

• Aisha Noni Toney, California Charter Schools Association