Even so, more than a third of charter school children did not meet the reading standard, and nearly two-thirds failed to meet the writing standard. And, of the 15 charter schools for which scores were reported, seven did not perform as well as the average for their district in at least one subject. Statewide, nearly half did not meet the reading standard while more than two-thirds did not meet the writing standard. Results were not reported for eight of 23 charter schools that were operating last spring and have a fourth grade. That's because their fourth-grade classes were small, and state officials were worried about protecting students' privacy.
Charter schools are semi-autonomous public schools financed with tax dollars.
They are formed under a 1993 law designed to let parents and educators experiment with ways to improve student achievement. She warned, however, against drawing conclusions about the test results too quickly because many variables can affect a school's performance. For example, charter schools with the lowest scores also had the highest percentages of low-income students, a pattern that shows up in all schools and districts. While poverty cannot be used to excuse low test scores, O'Brien said, low-income students often have extra obstacles to overcome. Some schools may begin with a large number of students reading or writing below grade level, while another may have many students starting above grade level.