Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Second Interim Report (2007-10)
Author: Maloney, Catherine
Date: 2011-02-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Charter Schools,Institutional Characteristics,Enrollment,Student Characteristics,School Demography,Teacher Characteristics,Educational Finance,Grants,Resource Allocation,Governing Boards,Educational Facilities,Teacher Recruitment,Student Recruitment,Institutional Mission,Educational Environment,School Community Relationship,Parent Participation,Teaching Methods,Student Evaluation,Faculty Development,Academic Achievement,Attendance,Grade Repetition,School Effectiveness,Case Studies,Hierarchical Linear Modeling,Principals,Surveys,Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,Parent Surveys

Since 1994, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has provided funding to new charter schools through Charter School Program (CSP) grants designed to provide support for the planning and implementation of effective new charter programs. Grants are awarded to state education agencies, which then provide funding to approved charter schools through a system of subgrants. As a condition of CSP funding, state education agencies are required to evaluate new charter schools using objective criteria and quantitative and qualitative data (Federal Register, 2007). The evaluation examines how new charter school operators plan and implement their programs and considers the following research questions: (1) How are federal start-up funds used to implement new charter school programs?; (2) What processes and practices guide the planning of new charter schools?; (3) What processes and practices guide the implementation of new charter school programs?; (4) How effective are new charter schools at designing and implementing successful educational programs?; (5) What is the effect of charter school maturity on students' academic outcomes?; and (6) How do students at new charter schools perform academically relative to comparable students at traditional district schools? The evaluation will produce three reports--two interim reports (spring 2009 and winter 2011) and a final report in spring 2011. This is the evaluation's second interim report. It presents findings for Research Questions 1 through 5 drawn from data collected from Generation 11, 12, and 13 charter schools, and includes analyses based on TEA's Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS), and Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) data. The report also includes the results of spring 2009 surveys of principals, teachers, and students in Generation 11, 12, and 13 charter schools, and the parents of students attending such schools, as well as information collected during site visits to a set of seven Generation 13 charter schools during the 2008-09 school year. Site visits included interviews with school administrators, focus group discussions with teachers, students, and board members, as well as observations in core content area classes. Appended are: (1) Overview of Case Studies of Generation 13 Charter Schools; (2) Technical Appendix--Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM); (3) Principal Survey; (4) Teacher Survey; (5) Student Survey; (6) Parent Survey; and (7) Characteristics of New Charter Schools in Texas. (Contains 176 tables, 8 figures, and 53 footnotes.) [For related reports, see &quot;Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Interim Report (2007-10)&quot; (ED538565) and &quot;Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Final Report (2007-10)&quot; (ED538563).]