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Differences by Design? Student Composition in Charter Schools with Different Academic Models

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Differences by Design? Student Composition in Charter Schools with Different Academic Models Differences by Design? STUDENT COMPOSITION IN CHARTER SCHOOLS WITH DIFFERENT ACADEMIC MODELS NAT MALKUS AND JENN HATFIELD FEBRUARY 2017 AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE Executive Summary he charter school movement is premised on the differences, we looked at the student composition of Tidea that, if independent operators create differ- charter schools with each academic model. Student entiated and innovative schooling options, families will compositions of charters with a given academic model benefit from making meaningful choices among those that differ systematically from those of charters with options that reflect their preferences. Charters are freed other models or from those of the TPSs near them sug- from many of the constraints traditional public schools gest meaningful differentiation, even if parents’ pref- face, allowing them to implement distinct academic erences for specific schooling options are not tightly models, school cultures, or curricular focuses that appeal aligned to demographics. to a subset of families. The consistent growth of charter The data show that charter academic models have schools, which now constitute one in 14 public schools substantive differences in student composition. Char- nationwide, provides some evidence of the popularity ters in each category have student compositions that of these options. However, it has been difficult to gauge are internally consistent. They are located in areas with how much differentiation there is in charter school mod- distinct demographic contexts, with some models con- els nationwide and how substantive it is. centrated in relatively advantaged areas and others con- This paper attempts to shed light on these questions. centrated in relatively disadvantaged areas. Within a Looking at charter schools across the nation, we use the given academic model, charters display student compo- content on charter schools’ websites to identify their sitions that differ from the TPSs located nearest them, academic models. Nearly half of charter schools had a and in many cases these patterns of differences are uni- specialized academic model, and these were further form. Across academic models, these patterns of differ- divided into a dozen specific categories. These nonex- ences are more distinct, suggesting that these models clusive categories included no-excuses schools, schools differ in meaningful ways that attract different kinds of focused on arts or STEM education, and schools focused students. on vocational education. These data provide new information about the char- Simply categorizing schools offers some insight into ter sector across the United States. While they are far charter schools’ differentiation, but it tells little about from the last word on parents’ preferences and student whether the categories of schools differ meaningfully compositions, they are consistent with the theory that from one another and from traditional public schools distinct schooling options provide families with mean- (TPSs) near them. To examine the substance of these ingful educational choice. 1 Differences by Design? Student Composition in Charter Schools with Different Academic Models NAT MALKUS AND JENN HATFIELD he premise behind the charter school movement is Measuring Diversity in Charter Schools outlined 14 differ- Tthat allowing independent groups, instead of pub- ent models to encompass all charter schools in 17 metro lic school districts, to operate public schools will pro- areas.2 The following year, the National Alliance for Pub- mote differentiated and innovative options for families. lic Charter Schools applied these models to all charters Because charter school operators are freed from many of nationwide.3 the constraints facing traditional public schools (TPSs), Because many charter schools intentionally provide they can design unique instructional models, school cul- more specialized options than TPSs, they often attract tures, or curricula that may appeal to some but not all a different subset of families. As a result, there can be families. From there, families can choose the schools that dramatic differences in student composition between best fit their children’s needs. The rapid expansion of charter schools and TPSs. In 2016, the AEI report Dif- charter schools, which now constitute more than one in ferences on Balance: National Comparisons of Charter and 14 public schools nationwide, is a testament to the popu- Traditional Public Schools detailed how often and by how larity of those choices. much the student composition of charter schools dif- All families want their children to attend good fered from neighboring TPSs.4 The report revealed that schools, but families define a good school differently. the students in charter schools often differed substan- In 2013, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute examined tially, in terms of student poverty, race, disability, and these preferences in What Parents Want: Education Pref- other measures, from those in nearby TPSs, but not in erences and Trade-Offs.1 This survey asked more than uniform ways. 2,000 parents what they valued in educational choices. In this paper, we examine the student compositions The responses indicated that all families valued a in charter schools with different academic models. Spe- strong academic program, but beyond that they val- cifically, we compare student compositions across char- ued different things. Some families placed a premium ter school models and between charter schools with a on career and technical education, while some priori- given model and the TPSs near them. These compari- tized a diverse student body. Some looked for a focus sons answer three questions: on music or the arts, while others preferred a focus on citizenship. • Are charters with different academic models Matching varied preferences requires differentiated located in different demographic contexts, as mea- school options, and charter schools are one avenue for sured by the types of students attending those creating them. Charter operators can design many dif- charters and their neighboring TPSs? ferent academic models, such as arts, no excuses (which have strict expectations for student behavior and disci- • How does the student composition of charters pline), and STEM (which focus on science, technology, with a given academic model differ from those of engineering, and mathematics). In 2015, the AEI report their neighboring TPSs? 2 DIFFERENCES BY DESIGN? NAT MALKUS AND JENN HATFIELD • How uniform are the patterns of differences not indicate any particular specialization or focus—or between charters with a given academic model and specialized schools, of which there are 12 types.5 The their neighboring TPSs? types of specialized schools are not mutually exclu- sive; for example, a single charter school could be both The answers to these questions provide new infor- a no-excuses and a STEM school. The following explains mation about differentiation in the charter sector. While the types of specialized charter schools.6 none of these data support causal relationships, they can show whether differences in student compositions • Arts charter schools include those that focused across charter academic models are consistent with the on fine or performing arts or that used an arts- theory of action behind the charter school movement. immersion model. They can also provide a more granular look at how char- ter schools’ compositions differ from those of their • Classical charter schools are those that described neighboring TPSs. themselves as such, or whose website described The remainder of the report is divided into three using the Socratic method or the Trivium method, sections. The next section overviews the methods and another classical instructional approach. data used to classify charter schools into academic mod- els and to compare charter schools to their neighboring • Credit-recovery charter schools are designed to TPSs. The following section presents our findings. The meet the needs of students who have previously concluding section discusses what these findings tell us dropped out of school, have been engaged with about the charter school sector and how they can inform the criminal justice system, are parents, or other- public discussion around charter schools. wise need to recover credits to meet graduation requirements. Methods • International/foreign language charter schools require students to spend significant time learn- In comparing charter schools with different academic ing a foreign language. They sometimes also spend models to their neighboring TPSs, we faced two ana- considerable time teaching students about other lytic challenges. The first challenge was to classify char- cultures. Charters were coded as international/ ter schools based on their academic models. The second foreign language if they identified themselves as challenge was to identify TPSs that would provide mean- such or offeredlanguage-immersion programs. ingful comparisons for charter schools in each classifica- tion. For each of these challenges, we drew on previous • Military charter schools are those with a mili- AEI research, as described below. tary focus—for example, they might drill as mili- tary units would or wear uniforms. A stand-alone Classifying Charter Schools’ Academic Models. JROTC program is not sufficient. Few of these The data on charter academic models include all current schools were identified in the data, and their charter schools that were open in the 2012–13 school year results can be found in Appendix
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