Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Final Report (2007-10). Executive Summary
Author: Maloney, Catherine
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Charter Schools,Institutional Characteristics,Open Enrollment,Nontraditional Education,Educational Legislation,State Legislation,School Demography,Student Characteristics,At Risk Students,High Schools,Hispanic American Students,Teacher Characteristics,Teaching Experience,Faculty Mobility,Educational Finance,Grants,Resource Allocation,Educational Facilities,Teacher Recruitment,Student Recruitment,School Choice,College Preparation,Parent Participation,Educational Benefits,Academic Achievement,School Community Relationship

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. (Contains 10 footnotes.) [For the full report, &quot;Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools: Final Report (2007-10),&quot; see ED538563.]