Archived - The State of Charter Schools Third-Year Report -- D. Starting, Implementing, and Being Accountable

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The State of Charter Schools Third-Year Report — May 1999

D. Starting, Implementing, and Being Accountable

Why Charter Schools Are Started
Implementation Challenges
Autonomy And Control
Autonomy And Choice Of Service Providers
External Accountability And Monitoring
External Accountability And Reporting
Accountability And Student Assessment

Why Charter Schools Are Started

Why are charter schools founded? Each founding story is unique, but broad patterns are discernible across different types of charter schools Charter schools begin from the inspiration of educators, parents, or community leaders who want to create a different learning environment for children. As the founders see it, most seek an alternative vision of schooling that they could not realize in the general public school system. Newly created schools in particular report on curriculum and instructional approaches they want to establish and the organizational climate they wish to create. Many pre-existing public schools converted to charter status in order to gain increased autonomy, while many pre-existing private schools sought to attain stable funding and attract students to their approach. Finally, some charter schools— about one in four—established their charter to serve a special population of students, often ones that were "at-risk" in the general public school system.

Three of four charter schools reported that realizing an alternative vision for schooling motivated the school's founding. Nearly 6 of 10 charter schools reported realizing an alternative vision for schooling as their most important reason for becoming a charter school.
More than a quarter of charter schools (26 percent) reported that serving a special population was a reason for founding, and one-fifth said that serving a special population was their most important motivation.
Newly created and pre-existing schools differ on their primary founding reasons. Newly created were much more likely to be founded primarily to realize an alternative vision (68 percent) than were pre-existing public schools (40 percent) or pre-existing private schools (35 percent).
In contrast, nearly as many pre-existing public schools sought to gain autonomy from state or district regulation (38 percent) as sought primarily to realize an educational vision (40 percent).
Pre-existing private schools converted to charter for a combination of reasons—to attract students (22 percent), to serve a special population (19 percent), or for financial reasons (19 percent).

Estimated Percentage Of Charter Schools By Reasons for Founding

Reason for founding charter school	Percentage that cited each reason	Percentage that cited most important reason charter school creation status
Total		Total	Newly created	Pre-existing public	Pre-existing private
	615	595	422	115	58
Realize an alternative vision	73.0%	58.9%	67.5%	40.0%	34.5%
Gain autonomy/flexibility	16.3%	10.3%	3.6%	38.3%	3.4%
Serve special population	26.2%	19.5%	22.7%	7.8%	19.0%
Attract students	10.2%	3.9%	1.9%	1.7%	22.4%
Financial reasons	8.6%	3.9%	0.9%	7.0%	19.0%
Parent involvement	10.2%	3.6%	3.3%	5.2%	1.7%

NOTE: These data rely on responses from 615 out of 619 open charter schools that responded to the survey. Schools were asked about their reasons for founding the first time they were surveyed. In one survey question, schools were asked the reason for founding their schools and they could reply with more than one reason (reported in column 2 above). In a separate question, schools were asked to choose one of the named reasons as the primary reason for founding their school (reported in columns 3 through 6 above); the data from 595 of the 615 charter schools are included for columns 3 through 6 because 20 schools did not choose a primary reason. The data presented in columns 4 through 6 represent the percentage of the total number of each type of school. The valid number of pre-existing public schools is 115 out of 120 possible open schools; the valid number of pre-existing private schools is 58 out of 65 possible open schools; the valid number of newly created charter schools is 422 out of 434 possible open schools. The difference between the valid and possible number of schools is because some schools did not select a primary reason for founding their charter school.

Percentage Of Charter Schools By Most Important Reason for Founding

pie chart

Percentage Of Newly Created Versus Pre-Existing Charter Schools By Most Important Reason for Founding

% of newly created v. pre—existing schools

Implementation Challenges

Our research suggests that many charter founders face significant challenges in starting and operating a charter school. We asked a knowledgeable respondent at each charter school in every year of the Study to rate the difficulty of overcoming each barrier in a list of possible barriers to charter school implementation. The most pressing challenges for newly created charter schools concern financial difficulties and other problems akin to starting a new business. Many pre-existing public schools that converted to charter status also have experienced political and bureaucratic difficulties during development and implementation.

Most charter schools reported that fiscal obstacles, including funding for start-up and ongoing operations, were difficult challenges during implementation. Lack of planning time and facilities also caused problems for charter schools.
Newly created and pre-existing public charter schools that converted to charter status showed different patterns of barriers to implementation.
A higher percentage of newly created charter schools faced greater difficulties than pre-existing public schools with both start-up and operating funding, facilities, and health and safety regulations.
Compared to newly created charter schools, a higher proportion of pre-existing public schools reported great difficulty with state or local board opposition, state department of education resistance, and collective bargaining agreements.
In addition to financial matters, especially a lack of start up funds, about 18 percent of pre-existing private schools that converted to charter status cited state department of education resistance or new requirements for health and safety as challenges they had to face.

Estimated Percentage Of Charter Schools Reporting Difficulties In Implementing Their Charters ¹

Total Newly created Pre-existing public Pre-existing private

Lack of start up funds 54.7% 60.4% 34.6% 52.7

Lack of planning time 37.4% 39.7% 34.8% 26.7%

Inadequate facilities 35.8% 39.1% 25.2% 31.5%

Inadequate operating funds 41.4% 44.6% 34.2% 32.7%

State or local board opposition 20.7% 19.2% 29.1% 15.1%

District resistance or regulations 19.9% 20.6% 22.8% 10.2%

Internal processes or conflicts 14.2% 15.5% 11.7% 10.0%

State dept. of education resistance 13.5% 11.8% 17.7% 18.3%

Health and safety regulations 11.3% 12.6% 2.7% 18.3%

Union or bargaining unit opposition 9.8% 9.1% 13.3% 8.6%

Accountability requirements 8.9% 8.5% 9.0% 11.6%

Hiring staff 8.8% 8.9% 10.7% 5.0%

Collective bargaining agreements 7.0% 4.8% 18.0% 1.7%

Community opposition 6.0% 7.8% 2.7% 0.0%

Federal regulations 5.6% 5.4% 4.4% 10.0%

Teacher certification requirements 4.9% 4.5% 7.2% 3.4%

NOTE: These data are drawn from questions asked only in the new school surveys. Responses to these questions about barriers represent a range of 204 to 210 out of 230 open charter schools that responded to the 1996 new schools survey; 120 to 149 out of 153 open charter schools that responded to the 1997 new schools survey; and 238 to 244 out of 246 open charter schools that responded to the 1998 new schools survey. Overall, the responses represent a range of 571 to 601 out of 619 open charter schools that responded to one of the three new school surveys.

¹ We asked schools to rate the difficulty of each barrier on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being not at all difficult and 5 being very difficult. The percentages in this table represent the percentages of schools that rated each barrier difficult or very difficult.

Percentage Of Charter Schools Reporting Difficulties By Charter Creation Status

Percentage chart

Autonomy And Control

The increased autonomy inherent in the charter concept allows charter schools the flexibility to make independent decisions about both educational and management issues. In some cases, schools decisions are constrained either by provisions of the state's charter legislation or by decisions and practices implemented by their charter granting agency. One measure of a school's autonomy is the extent to which it can exercise control over critical decisions affecting its performance. Using school reports on their sense of control over critical decisions, we find that most charter schools feel they have considerable autonomy, except over student admissions policy. However, charter schools that converted from public school status appear to have less autonomy than newly created charter schools.

In the 1997-98 school year, most charter schools reported that they had primary control or authority over their administrative operations (budget, purchase of supplies and equipment, and hiring teaching staff) and the operation of their education program (daily and yearly schedule, curriculum, student admissions, discipline, and student assessment.) A lower percentage (64 percent) of schools reported that they had control over their student admissions policies.
In cases where charter schools reported that they did not have control, control rested with either the district or the charter granting agency or was shared between the charter school and one of those agencies.
A higher percentage of newly created schools compared to pre-existing public schools reported having primary control over all areas of decision-making. In particular, pre-existing public schools have less control over their daily schedule, school calendar, and budget, as well as their student admissions policy.
Charter schools that converted from private status have a pattern of autonomy similar to newly created schools, except that a lower percentage felt they had control over admissions policy (52 percent) and student assessment policies (68 percent).

Estimated Percentage of Charter Schools by Source Of Primary Control for Various School Decisions And Operations

	Source of primary control
Area of control	School	District/charter granting agency	Both	Other
Budget	76.3%	18.9%	2.4%	2.4%
Purchase of supplies/equipment	91.1%	7.0%	0.8%	1.1%
School calendar	78.9%	18.8%	1.0%	1.3%
Daily schedule	95.3%	2.4%	1.0%	1.3%
Student assessment policies	76.6%	16.7%	3.6%	3.1%
Student admissions policies	63.7%	26.9%	6.5%	2.9%
Student discipline	92.1%	3.9%	1.5%	2.5%
Establishment of curriculum	86.1%	8.8%	2.1%	3.0%
Hiring of teaching staff	89.3%	6.3%	1.6%	2.8%

NOTE: These data rely on responses from between 614 and 618 out of 619 open charter schools that responded to the telephone survey. Schools were asked to rate each of these items separately, resulting in the range of responses. One school did not respond to this survey item and five schools answered "don't know" for certain items. The data presented in columns 3 through 5 of the table on the facing page represent the percentage of each type of school responding to each item. The valid number of pre-existing public schools ranges from 118 to 120 schools; the valid number of open pre-existing private schools ranges from 63 to 65 open schools; the valid number of open newly created schools ranges between 431 to 434 schools. The difference in range is because some schools responded "don't know".

Estimated Percentage Of Charter Schools With Primary Control By Creation Status

Area of control	Percentage of schools with primary control	Charter school creation status
Area of control	Percentage of schools with primary control	Newly created	Pre-existing public	Pre-existing private
Hiring of teaching staff	89.3%	90.8%	84.0%	89.2%
Establishment of curriculum	86.1%	88.2%	77.1%	87.7%
Student discipline	92.1%	93.1%	90.0%	89.2%
Student admissions policies	63.7%	66.7%	58.8%	51.6%
Student assessment policies	76.6%	78.9%	72.5%	68.3%
Daily schedule	95.3%	96.3%	72.5%	93.8%
School calendar	78.9%	83.6%	58.3%	85.9%
Purchase of supplies/equipment	91.1%	92.4%	85.0%	93.8%
Budget	76.3%	80.5%	60.2%	76.0%

Estimated Percentage Of Newly Created And Pre-existing Charter Schools With Control Over Various School Decisions And Operations

Percentage chart of pre-existing schools w/ctrl

Autonomy And Choice Of Service Providers

The autonomy afforded by the charter allows charter schools to make alternative arrangements for the acquisition of both goods and services. Autonomy also affords charter schools the opportunity to choose the mix of services offered to their students and families. Some charter schools have taken advantage of the flexibility provided by the charter to rethink how services are provided, including providing some services with either school staff or volunteers, purchasing the services from the district, or purchasing the services from an outside provider. Newly created, pre-existing public, and pre-existing private schools differ in the sources from which they acquire services.

About two-thirds of charter schools provided one or more non-educational services to their students, including transportation, food service, and before and after school care. More than three quarters of the schools provided social and/or health services.
When charter schools provided health services, about an equal percentage of the services were provided by the school (35 percent), the district (30 percent), or an outside provider (33 percent). Most charter schools that offered before and after school care provided the services themselves (64 percent). When charter schools offered social services, an outside provider (41 percent) was most often the source. When charter schools offered food programs/services or transportation services, the district was most often the provider of these services (40 percent and 41 percent, respectively).
Averaging across all service areas, about one-third of charter schools provided services themselves to their students, about one-third of charter schools used an outside provider, and less than one third used the district as the service provider.
Newly created schools and pre-existing private schools were much more likely to either provide services themselves or to secure services from an outside provider. Between half and 80 percent of newly created and pre-existing private schools provided their own purchasing services, custodial services, and before/after school care.
Pre-existing public schools were much more likely to seek services from their districts. More than half of pre-existing public schools sought payroll, accounting, purchasing, health, food programs, legal services, custodial, building maintenance, and transportation services from the district.

Average Percentage of Schools Selecting a Given Service Provider, by Charter School Creation Status

pie chart

NOTE: These data rely on responses from 618 out of 619 open charter schools that responded to the telephone survey. These data are drawn from questions asked only in the first year of administration of the new school survey. This exhibit represents non-weighted averages across all service areas. Unweighted averages are used so as to not inflate the average for services that are more commonly provided.

Percentage Of Charter Schools That Offer Services By Charter Creation Status

Services provided in charter schools (percentage of schools with services)		Percentage of schools with services provided solely by
	Charter creation status	School as provider	District as provider	Outside provider
	Average of all services ¹	34.3%	27.0%	33.3%
	Newly created	36.2%	21.1%	36.9%
	Pre-existing public	22.2%	58.9%	13.6%
	Pre-existing private	46.0%	3.5%	47.1%
Payroll (100.0%)	Total % across all types	22.5%	32.7%	41.1%
	Newly created	24.5%	26.1%	45.5%
	Pre-existing public	7.5%	73.3%	17.5%
	Pre-existing private	36.9%	1.5%	55.4%
Accounting (100.0%)	Total % across all types	33.2%	23.9%	33.5%
	Newly created	35.8%	17.8%	37.4%
	Pre-existing public	22.5%	58.3%	9.2%
	Pre-existing private	35.4%	1.5%	52.3%
Insurance (99.8%)	Total % across all types	19.3%	30.5%	47.8%
	Newly created	19.6%	23.8%	53.5%
	Pre-existing public	12.5%	70.0%	15.8%
	Pre-existing private	29.2%	1.5	69.2%
Purchasing (99.8%)	Total % across all types	57.2%	23.0%	13.3%
	Newly created	61.9%	17.3%	15.0%
	Pre-existing public	28.3%	55.0%	5.8%
	Pre-existing private	79.6%	1.6%	15.6%
Custodial (97.7%)	Total % across all types	45.5%	20.4%	31.1%
	Newly created	47.0%	14.0%	35.4%
	Pre-existing public	33.6%	53.8%	11.8%
	Pre-existing private	57.8%	0.0%	39.1%
Building maintenance (95.4%)	Total % across all types	37.0%	19.4%	36.2%
	Newly created	37.5%	14.9%	39.6%
	Pre-existing public	28.6%	57.1%	8.2%
	Pre-existing private	43.6%	5.1%	46.2%
Legal services (93.4%)	Total % across all types	18.4%	27.7%	50.0%
	Newly created	18.9%	22.1%	54.6%
	Pre-existing public	10.4%	61.7%	23.5%
	Pre-existing private	30.5%	0.0%	69.5%
Health services (80.9%)	Total % across all types	35.2%	29.8%	32.6%
	Newly created	38.9%	23.5%	34.9%
	Pre-existing public	20.6%	60.7%	16.8%
	Pre-existing private	40.8%	6.1%	51.0%
Social services (79.6%)	Total % across all types	26.8%	24.4%	40.7%
	Newly created	25.4%	20.0%	46.0%
	Pre-existing public	23.8%	47.6%	20.0%
	Pre-existing private	40.4%	5.8%	48.1%
Before/after school Care (70.1%)	Total % across all types	64.2%	10.4%	18.5%
	Newly created	69.1%	4.2%	19.4%
	Pre-existing public	48.4%	33.7%	8.4%
	Pre-existing private	66.0%	2.0%	32.0%
Food programs (66.8%)	Total % across all types	24.5%	40.0%	29.8%
	Newly created	22.9%	35.4%	35.4%
	Pre-existing public	15.7%	64.7%	13.7%
	Pre-existing private	57.5%	7.5%	32.5%
Transportation (65.2%)	Total % across all types	28.0%	41.2%	25.3%
	Newly created	32.4%	34.4%	25.9%
	Pre-existing public	14.6%	70.9%	12.6%
	Pre-existing private	34.1%	9.8%	53.7%

¹The numbers in each of the "Total" rows do not add to 100% across the columns because respondents were also offered "Both" as a response.

External Accountability And Monitoring

Regardless of state law, charter schools enter into contracts with sponsoring entities in which freedom from regulations (except those related to health, safety and non-discrimination) is traded for increased accountability for outcomes. However, such external accountability is effective only if charter-granting or other agencies monitor charter schools in those areas for which they are to be held accountable. State legislation as well as regulatory practices vary greatly across states in the extent to which they do monitoring—and, indeed, in the extent to which they take a regulatory approach to holding charter schools accountable.

In 1997-98, the main areas in which charter schools (in a selected sample) said they were monitored were in school finances (87 percent), student academic achievement (73 percent), student attendance (70 percent), and compliance with state or federal regulations (63 percent).
A lower percentage of charter schools reported that they were monitored for the school's governance or decision-making structure (34 percent), student behavior (30 percent), and school completion rates (24 percent).
The pattern of monitoring across states differs greatly depending on the state's approach to accountability. For example, compared to Arizona schools, a much higher proportion of schools in Massachusetts reported they were monitored on student achievement, instructional practices, and school governance. Massachusetts follows a "centralized" state agency approach to charter school accountability, whereas Arizona takes a "market-driven" approach. States like California and Colorado have created, in law and practice, a "district-based" approach that relies on local accountability within a state framework of testing.

Estimated Percentage Of Charter Schools That Are Externally Monitored On Accountability Measures

Percentage chart of charter schools that are externally monitored on Accountibility measures

Percentage Of A Selected Sample Of Charter Schools On Areas Of External Monitoring By State

	# of Schools in Sample	Instructional Practices	Student Achievement	Student Behavior	Student Attendance
Total	284	58.5%	73.1%	30.3%	69.7%
State Arizona	64	70.3%	65.6%	26.6%	81.3%
California	71	47.9%	74.6%	33.8%	76.1%
Colorado	30	46.7%	90.0%	33.3%	66.7%
Georgia	8	50.0%	87.5%	37.5%	75.0%
Massachusetts	15	93.3%	93.3%	26.7%	53.3%
Michigan	53	66.0%	64.2%	26.4%	56.6%
Minnesota	15	46.7%	60.0%	6.7%	53.3%
New Mexico	4	50.0%	75.0%	25.0%	75.0%
Texas	14	42.9%	71.4%	50.0%	78.6%
Wisconsin	10	50.0%	70.0%	20.0%	40.0%
	# of Schools in Sample	School Completion	School Governance	School Finances	Compliance with Regulations
Total	284	23.8%	33.7%	87.4%	62.9%
State Arizona	64	29.7%	31.3%	84.4%	70.3%
California	71	25.4%	28.2%	91.5%	54.9%
Colorado	30	30.0%	23.3%	83.3%	63.3%
Georgia	8	12.5%	37.5%	75.0%	37.5%
Massachusetts	15	6.7%	80.0%	100.0%	46.7%
Michigan	53	13.2%	41.5%	86.8%	75.5%
Minnesota	15	13.3%	13.3%	93.3%	66.7%
New Mexico	4	50.0%	75.0%	75.0%	25.0%
Texas	14	28.6%	21.4%	92.9%	57.1%
Wisconsin	10	30.0%	30.0%	60.0%	50.0%

NOTE: The percentages in the table show the number of schools that reported monitoring during the year in each area divided by the total number of schools in each state. This figure reports data from 294 charter schools referred to as a selected sample in the text. This question only appeared on the 1998 follow-up survey and so only schools that responded to the 1998 follow-up survey answered this question. This omits charter schools in their first year of operation. Schools in 16 states responded to the original survey and were approached with the follow-up survey. The data for ten schools are not presented by state because the schools are in five states (Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, and Louisiana) that have three or fewer schools. The "Total" row does include data from these ten schools.

External Accountability And Reporting

In exchange for freedom from laws and regulations that apply to other public schools, charter schools have increased accountability and reporting requirements. Reporting requirements and audiences for reporting differ by state and by individual charter school. Charter schools made reports to various constituencies on the school's progress towards its goals. All of a selected sample of charter schools have made or plan to make a report to at least one interested constituency.

In 1997-1998 the majority of a selected sample of charter schools said they had made or were planning to make a report on the school's progress toward its goals to key constituent groups: their chartering agency (90 percent), parents (88 percent), or the school's governing board (92 percent).
State departments of education represent a key reporting agency in some states. At least 75 percent of schools in Alaska, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Mexico had made or planned to make a report to their State Department of Education.
The pattern of reporting progress toward goals shows some variation across states in reporting to key constituents, but the majority of charter schools in every state (two-thirds or more) had made or planned to make a report to their chartering agency, their parents, or their school governing board.
The pattern of reporting progress toward goals to other constituencies varies across states. For example, in 11 states, half or more of the schools had made or planned to make a report to the community or general public, while in four states fewer than 50 percent planned to report to the community.

Estimated Percentage Of A Selected Sample Of Schools Reporting Progress Toward Goals To Their Reporting Agencies

	Made a report	Planning to make a report	Not made or planning to make a report	Don't know	Not applicable
Chartering agency	55.4%	34.4%	8.5%	0.7%	1.0%
Private funders	15.3%	10.2%	35.4%	38.4%	0.7%
Parents	56.5%	31.3%	10.5%	1.7%	0.0%
Community/ general public	36.1%	17.0%	41.5%	4.8%	0.7%
School governing board	65.0%	26.5%	6.8%	1.0%	0.7%
State dept. of education, not chartering agency	43.9%	16.7%	32.7%	5.4%	1.4%

NOTE: These data are based on responses from all 294 charter schools that responded to the 1998 follow-up survey referred to as a selected sample in the text. This question only appeared on the 1998 follow-up survey and so only schools that responded to the 1998 follow-up survey answered this question.

Percentage Of Charter Schools That Have Made A Report Or Are Planning To Make A Report By Reporting Agency

Percentage Of A Selected Sample Of Charter Schools ¹ That Have Reported or Plan to Report by State

	Reporting Agency
	Chartering Agency	Private Funders	Parents	Community/ General Public	School governing board	State DOE	Number of Schools
	Percentage of Schools
Total	89.8%	25.5%	87.8%	53.1%	91.5%	60.6%	294
Arizona	92.2%	23.5%	90.6%	50.1%	90.7%	59.4%	64
California	85.9%	14.1%	84.5%	43.7%	92.9%	24.0%	71
Colorado	100.0%	40.0%	83.4%	60.0%	93.3%	66.7%	30
Georgia	87.5%	12.5%	100.0%	75.0%	87.5%	87.5%	8
Massachusetts	93.3%	60.0%	93.4%	80.0%	100.0%	93.3%	15
Michigan	88.7%	16.9%	92.4%	58.5%	92.5%	79.3%	53
Minnesota	100.0%	26.7%	80.0%	53.4%	86.7%	93.4%	15
New Mexico	100.0%	25.0%	100.0%	75%	75.0%	75.0%	4
Texas	78.5%	57.2%	78.6%	50.0%	100.0%	71.4%	14
Wisconsin	70.0%	30.0%	90.0%	50.0%	70.0%	50.0%	10

¹ The percentages in the table show the number of schools that reported or plan to report progress in each area divided by the total number of schools in each state. The data for ten schools are not presented by state because the schools are in five states (Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, and Louisiana) that have three or fewer schools. The "Total" row does include data from these ten schools.

Accountability And Student Assessment

Charter schools are held accountable for the achievement of their students. Some charter legislation speaks specifically to improving student achievement as a goal for charter schools. Charter schools report using a number of measures of student achievement, some of them are traditional standardized assessment methods and others more innovative methods like portfolios and student demonstrations.

Most charter schools report that they use standardized assessments of student achievement (86 percent) and 75 percent of charter schools use the tests that are part of the state's assessment program. Standardized tests and the state's assessment test are the most typical method of reporting for accountability purposes.
Charter schools also report using a number of other assessment methods. Most charter schools (85 percent) report using student demonstrations of their work as a way of measuring student achievement. Most schools also report using student portfolios (79 percent) and performance assessments (70 percent) to measure student progress.
Many charter schools also report using parent surveys (81 percent), behavioral indicators (75 percent), and student surveys (70 percent).
Assessment methods are generally consistent across newly created and pre-existing public schools. Pre-existing private schools are slightly less likely to use performance assessments, student portfolios, parent surveys, and behavioral indicators. Pre-existing public schools are slightly more likely to use student surveys and behavioral indicator

Estimated Percentage Of Schools Using Various Types Of Assessment Methods

Type of assessment	Percentage of schools	Charter school creation status
Type of assessment	Percentage of schools	Newly created	Pre-existing public	Pre-existing private
Standardized assessments	86.4%	87.6%	84.2%	83.1%
State assessment program	74.8%	77.1%	70.0%	69.2%
Performance assessments	69.6%	70.3%	70.8%	63.1%
Student portfolios	78.8%	81.5%	78.3%	63.1%
Student demonstrations of their work	85.0%	85.7%	81.7%	87.7%
Parent satisfaction surveys	80.6%	82.2%	79.1%	73.8%
Student interviews or surveys	70.4%	69.1%	79.2%	64.6%
Behavioral indicators	75.1%	73.7%	85.0%	67.7%

NOTE: This exhibit draws on either 589 or 618 out of a possible 619 open charter schools that responded to the telephone survey. Three of the methods of assessments (standardized assessments, locally developed performance assessments, national or state performance assessments) were items only asked about on the new schools surveys. For these three items, the total number of valid charter schools is 589, with results reflecting responses from the year of administration of the new school survey. The remaining items have been asked consistently on both the new and follow-up surveys and the results reflect the most recent school responses.

Percentage Of Schools That Use Various Methods Of Assessment

bar chart of charter schools that use various methods of assessment

Across-State Comparison Of Estimated Percentage Of Schools Using Various Types Of Assessments

States (with 5 or more schools) Standardized assessments State assessment program Performance assessments Student portfolios Student demonstrations of their work Parent satisfaction surveys Student interviews or surveys Behavioral indicators

Total percentage 86.4% 74.8% 69.6% 79.0% 85.1% 80.6% 70.6% 75.2%

Alaska (12) 100.0% 66.7% 58.3% 66.7% 75.0% 83.3% 75.0% 50.0%

Arizona (127) 92.1% 70.9% 71.7% 81.1% 86.6% 68.5% 66.1% 69.3%

California (119) 86.7% 60.5% 74.2% 88.2% 82.4% 84.9% 75.6% 69.7%

Colorado (49) 87.8% 87.8% 79.6% 67.3% 75.5% 87.8% 55.1% 83.7%

Connecticut (11) 100.0% 100.0% 63.6% 90.9% 81.8% 81.8% 100.0% 81.8%

Florida (31) 93.5% 77.4% 74.2% 90.3% 83.9% 77.4% 74.2% 77.4%

Georgia (18) 100.0% 66.7% 61.1% 72.2% 94.4% 77.8% 66.7% 77.8%

Illinois (6) 100.0% 83.3% 83.3% 50.0% 100.0% 33.3% 33.3% 66.7%

Louisiana (6) 100.0% 50.0% 66.7% 66.7% 83.3% 66.7% 33.3% 50.0%

Massachusetts (21) 85.7% 90.5% 76.2% 95.2% 76.2% 95.2% 76.2% 85.7%

Michigan (95) 77.9% 75.8% 61.1% 68.4% 91.6% 88.4% 73.7% 74.7%

Minnesota (25) 80.0% 84.0% 60.0% 84.0% 80.0% 96.0% 92.0% 88.0%

North Carolina (27) 88.9% 88.9 63.0% 81.5% 88.9% 81.5% 63.0% 77.8%

New Jersey (6) 100.0% 66.7% 50.0% 100.0% 100.0% 50.0% 33.3% 83.3%

Texas (29) 72.4% 93.1% 65.5% 69.0% 86.2% 79.3% 69.0% 89.7%

Wisconsin (17) 52.9% 88.2% 88.2% 70.6% 94.1% 76.5% 70.6% 82.4%

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[C. Students of Charter Schools]

[Appendix: Response Rate by State]

States (with 5 or more schools)	Standardized assessments	State assessment program	Performance assessments	Student portfolios	Student demonstrations of their work	Parent satisfaction surveys	Student interviews or surveys	Behavioral indicators
Total percentage	86.4%	74.8%	69.6%	79.0%	85.1%	80.6%	70.6%	75.2%
Alaska (12)	100.0%	66.7%	58.3%	66.7%	75.0%	83.3%	75.0%	50.0%
Arizona (127)	92.1%	70.9%	71.7%	81.1%	86.6%	68.5%	66.1%	69.3%
California (119)	86.7%	60.5%	74.2%	88.2%	82.4%	84.9%	75.6%	69.7%
Colorado (49)	87.8%	87.8%	79.6%	67.3%	75.5%	87.8%	55.1%	83.7%
Connecticut (11)	100.0%	100.0%	63.6%	90.9%	81.8%	81.8%	100.0%	81.8%
Florida (31)	93.5%	77.4%	74.2%	90.3%	83.9%	77.4%	74.2%	77.4%
Georgia (18)	100.0%	66.7%	61.1%	72.2%	94.4%	77.8%	66.7%	77.8%
Illinois (6)	100.0%	83.3%	83.3%	50.0%	100.0%	33.3%	33.3%	66.7%
Louisiana (6)	100.0%	50.0%	66.7%	66.7%	83.3%	66.7%	33.3%	50.0%
Massachusetts (21)	85.7%	90.5%	76.2%	95.2%	76.2%	95.2%	76.2%	85.7%
Michigan (95)	77.9%	75.8%	61.1%	68.4%	91.6%	88.4%	73.7%	74.7%
Minnesota (25)	80.0%	84.0%	60.0%	84.0%	80.0%	96.0%	92.0%	88.0%
North Carolina (27)	88.9%	88.9	63.0%	81.5%	88.9%	81.5%	63.0%	77.8%
New Jersey (6)	100.0%	66.7%	50.0%	100.0%	100.0%	50.0%	33.3%	83.3%
Texas (29)	72.4%	93.1%	65.5%	69.0%	86.2%	79.3%	69.0%	89.7%
Wisconsin (17)	52.9%	88.2%	88.2%	70.6%	94.1%	76.5%	70.6%	82.4%