NY charters

I'm still collecting data on the impact on charter schools' results of the new tests, but the impact will obviously be far greater since charter schools serve many more poor and minority students than the average public school in the state.  Here's a statement from James Merriman of the NYC Charter School Center:

 

STATEMENT FROM JAMES MERRIMAN, CEO OF THE NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL CENTER

 

July 28, 2010 (NEW YORK) – The New York State Department of Education today announced the results of the 2010 State English Language Arts and Math exams. The following is a statement from James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, regarding New York City public charter school performance on these exams. 

 

"Faced with more rigorous state standards, New York City's public charter school students continued to outperform their district peers, and in math, City charter school students outperformed public school students statewide. Several charter schools posted some of the City's highest results in both subjects. Under the new baseline for proficiency set by New York State, 63% of charter school students met standards in math, compared to 54% of students citywide and 61% of students statewide. In ELA, 43% of charter school students were proficient, compared to 42% of students citywide and 53% statewide.
 
Clearly, these new proficiency rates show we still have a lot of work to do, but it's also clear charters are having more success at addressing the racial and ethnic achievement gap. Ninety-four percent of charter school students are African-American or Latino, and when charter school proficiency rates are compared to proficiency rates for these students in the district overall, charters are performing better. In math, 63% of charter school students met standards versus 40% for African-American students and 46% for Latino students citywide; in ELA, 43% of charter school students met standards versus 33% for African-Americans and 34% for Latinos citywide.

 

Charter leaders stand strongly behind the efforts of Chancellor Tisch and Commissioner Steiner to raise standards and prepare students for future success. We are more committed than ever to helping students meet the high bar they set by expanding access to more great schools."