Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Final Report (2007-10)
Author: Maloney, Catherine
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Charter Schools,Institutional Characteristics,Enrollment,School Demography,Student Characteristics,Teacher Characteristics,Educational Finance,Grants,Resource Allocation,Educational Facilities,Teacher Recruitment,Student Recruitment,Institutional Mission,Educational Environment,School Community Relationship,Parent Participation,Teaching Methods,Student Evaluation,Faculty Development,Teacher Evaluation,Open Enrollment,Academic Achievement,Attendance,Grade Repetition,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 Texas Education Agency (TEA) was awarded CSP funding in 2007, and specified that the required evaluation would focus on the experiences and outcomes of new charter schools authorized to begin serving students across 4 school years: 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10. The evaluation examines how new charter school operators plan and implement their programs and considers the following research questions: (1) How are federal CSP 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 has produced two interim reports (June 2009 and February 2011) as well as this final report. Results from the interim reports indicated that charter schools used the largest proportion of CSP funding to support instruction, but that new charter schools' start-up experiences differed, depending on the level of support they received from founding entities. In particular, new charter schools that operated as part of a traditional district (i.e., campus charters) tended to have an easier time getting started because most districts provided support for campus charter school management and facilities, as well as the recruitment of staff and students. In contrast, many charter schools that operated outside of traditional district structures (i.e., open-enrollment charters) struggled to locate and furnish adequate facilities, and to recruit and retain qualified staff. The final report builds on interim findings and presents results for Research Question 1 and Research Questions 3 through 6 drawn from data collected from Generation 11, 12, 13, and 14 charter schools. The report also includes the results of surveys of principals, teachers, and students in Generation 11, 12, 13, and 14 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. Throughout the report chapters, results are disaggregated by charter school generation and charter school type where appropriate. Appended are: (1) Overview of Case Studies of Generation 13 Charter Schools; (2) Technical Appendix--Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM); (3) Propensity Score Matching; (4) Principal Survey; (5) Teacher Survey; (6) Student Survey; (7) Parent Survey; and (8) Characteristics of New Charter Schools in Texas. (Contains 78 tables, 7 figures, and 23 footnotes.) [For &quot;Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Interim Report (2007-10). Executive Summary,&quot; see ED538561. For previous reports, see &quot;Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Interim Report (2007-10)&quot; (ED538565) and &quot;Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Second Interim Report (2007-10)&quot; (ED538554).]