Study Finds Charter Schools Lack Experienced Teachers

NY Times ^ | April 8, 2003 | SARA RIMER

[Pharmboy]

Charter schools, regarded by hundreds of thousands of families as an alternative to low-performing public schools, rely heavily on young, inexperienced, uncredentialed teachers and often do not have the resources to provide the instructional help that many of their students need, a new study has found.

The study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of California and Stanford University and draws on a national survey of charter school educators, suggests that some charter schools, particularly those serving low-income and minority students, may be replicating problems of the public schools they were intended to replace.

"Unless government can equalize the resources available to charter schools, we may deepen the inequalities that advocates claim these schools would eliminate or reduce," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, who led the study. Professor Fuller's earlier research on charter schools raised questions about whether charter schools improve achievement for low-income students.

"Without attention to these inequities," Professor Fuller said, "charter schools could be another failed reform for working-class and low-income families."

The study based its conclusions on a survey of charter school teachers and principals gathered by the Census Bureau for the National Center for Educational Statistics. The study's findings were presented in Los Angeles last weekend at a seminar run by the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University's Teachers College.

More than 2,600 charter schools, which operate with public funds but are independent of local school boards and most government rules, have opened since 1991 and serve nearly 700,000 students in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Yet, little national data on student achievement in those schools is available.

Critics, which include the American Federation of Teachers, say that charter schools siphon money and resources from the public school system at a time when that system is underfinanced. In addition, the critics say, there is no evidence charter schools improve achievement for large numbers of students.

But supporters of charter schools believe that the schools, freed from the constraints and bureaucracy of public schools and with local autonomy, can raise achievement and be more responsive to the needs of individual students and families. President Bush has praised charter schools for their innovative programs, and has sought $753 million in new financing next year to expand charter schools and experiments with school vouchers.

The new study drew criticism from the Center for Education Reform, a Washington nonprofit group that has advocated for charter schools. The group called the study's data flawed, and said that traditional state teacher credentials had no connection to quality teaching.

"Knowing your subject is what matters," said the center's president, Jeanne Allen, who added that the study ignored achievement gains she said had been documented in charter schools in Michigan, California and other states.

Charter schools vary greatly from state to state, and the study found a wide disparity in resources and teachers' qualifications and experience among the schools.

Professor Fuller said he believed that there were "a few strong, high-quality charter schools," particularly in Connecticut. He also cited the charter school in the South Bronx run by the nonprofit Kipp foundation; it has been successful in attracting strong teachers and in acquiring the federal instructional money to which it is entitled, as well as in showing achievement gains.

The study found that 48 percent of teachers in the average charter school lack a teaching certificate, while 9 percent of teachers in the average public school lack one. The study also found that charter schools where more than half the enrollment is black rely more heavily on uncredentialed teachers.

In these schools 60 percent of the teachers are working with an emergency, provisional or probationary certificate, according to the study. The study also found that teachers in charter schools serving low-income and minority students are paid considerably less than their counterparts in public schools.

The study found that 55 percent of teachers in charter schools run by private companies are uncredentialed and not highly experienced; 45 percent of teachers in charters run by parents or educators are uncredentialed and inexperienced.

The study also found that many charter schools failed to acquire the federal financing they could. As an example, the study found, while about two-thirds of the students in predominantly black charter schools come from poor families, only 6 percent received the federal instructional aid for which most were eligible.

Responding to the study, Nina Rees, an under secretary of education, said an inquiry was needed to learn why the schools were not getting the federal money they should.

Concerning uncredentialed teachers, Ms. Rees said that the freedom and flexibility of charter schools to hire and fire teachers — and to attract teachers who may be excellent and highly qualified despite their lack of a traditional certificate — was part of their strength.

[Pharmboy]

Actually, I was a bit surprised at the relative evenhandedness of this article by the Times. Of course, a reasonable question to the researchers would be "Why do you look at the teachers and not at the students? Why are you wasting time and money looking at the process rather than the outcome?"

Oh well: I guess this must be considered progress for the Times, a paper that would have previously just been a mouthpiece for the teachers' unions and made this a hit piece on charter schools.

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[KC_for_Freedom]

I completely agree, although I went back to school and got a credential, most of what I used in the classroom came from life experiences. The best teaching techniques came from private industry not schools of education. Credentials or not is a crock, how are the kids doing?

[Rippin]

Perfect synopsis. Let's study the inputs and make pious pronouncements about the outputs. They study what they care about, and it ain't the kids.

[Lizavetta]

...rely heavily on young, inexperienced, uncredentialed teachers.....

This could describe many homeschooling families who succeed despite these obstacles....not to mention that many are strapped financially.

[Yeti]

Charter schools, regarded by hundreds of thousands of families as an alternative to low-performing public schools, rely heavily on young, inexperienced, uncredentialed teachers

Good. The older teachers would just come in and do what they did at public schools.

Better to start with fresh minds. And the results speak for themselves.

[zeromus]

maybe charter schools have teachers that are young, inexperienced, and uncredentialed, but many public schools have administrations that don't give a crap and do not back up or support in any positive way whatever teachers they do have. what they do very well is CRUSH SPIRITS--both students, and teachers.

It is tempting to believe that teachers should be the focus of attention on educational issues but its just such a tiny part of a much larger problem

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[Tanstaafl]

I agree as well. What is the relevance of credentialed or not? More and more, credentialed has come to equal indoctrinated (in something most unpleasant to many of us). As for experience, would not the same old experienced teachers perpetuate the same inept instruction at the new school? BTW - Charter schools are government/public schools.

We have three children. My oldest daughter was pulled from the clutches of the public school system after second grade. Placed initially in a parochial school, and then home schooled. Completed high school at sixteen, two years of junior college, then accepted at UC Berkeley. My other two have never, and will never see the inside of a public school, unless they happen to see a crime scene on television. All three are excellent academic performers.

I would be inclined to ignore a government employee naysayer. Rather, spread the good word through the testimony of those that have saved their children from the declining social experiment that some state’s public schools are.

Tanstaafl

[ccmay]

Study Finds Charter Schools Lack Experienced Teachers

That's a feature, not a bug. The education majors in any university are the rock bottom dregs, by and large. I know, there are many who are not, including my sainted mother-- but really! I would much rather have my kids taught history by a history grad, or biology by a biology grad, than anything by an education grad.

-ccm

[BamaGirl]

That's a feature, not a bug.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

The education majors in any university are the rock bottom dregs, by and large. ... I would much rather have my kids taught history by a history grad, or biology by a biology grad, than anything by an education grad.

I totally agree. Those I know with a PhD in education, it is oxymoronic to have to call them "Doctor."

[Spirited]

I am praying that a home schooled student will see the need to do a thesis for Master's or Doctorate that compares the educational results of children educated by credentialed teachers and children educated by uncredentialed individuals.

One could almost guarantee that the results would never be printed in the NYT because truth is not their forte.

This family has a credentialed grandmother with degrees in education from major Universities who urged her children to homeschool in spite of the fact that none of those who would teach the grandchildren had ever been "corrupted" by a course in education.

Her earnest hope prevailed and 6 grandchildren are being home schooled, from ages 5 to 16. The seventh entered a very major university in Texas with a beyond-full scholarship as a freshman with enough credits earned as a high schooler at a university in NC to have been invited to join the JUNIOR class honor society by the end of the first semester.

It may not happen without struggle but the struggle is less than that which ensues from having to deprogram the mind and the heart of a child misappropriated or misdirected by a public school teacher or psychologist who truly has nothing in common with one's family values, family history, strengths, weaknesses and goals.

The resulting product of diligent effort on the part of the parent or parents brings a luxurious sense of accomplishment. The family is cohesive, caring for each other and closer to parents. The home is, on the whole, more peaceful but far more active since home schooled children tend to take part in many more outside activities and must take on more household responsibilities in order to assist the parent/s who are schooling the children.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Bill Cosby is one example. He has a "doctorate" (an EdD, really), that he "earned" from Harvard by providing his Fat Albert cartoon work as his scholarly research. He's a funny guy, but his degree didn't make him any smarter, as far as I can see.

[Pharmboy]

...and doesn't he push that Ed D in front of everyone!

[Yeti]

BTW - Charter schools are government/public schools.

Yes. I meant as compared to, what does one call them if not "public"? Standard?

Congratulations on some successful parenting :-)

[ladylib]

Many public schools are no better than the charters. In my state, the kids did poorly on the state-mandated math exams. The excuse was given that there are not enough credentialed math teachers. It was also admitted that some of these so-called "math" teachers haven't taken a math course since HIGH SCHOOL!

Let the kids take on-line math courses or junior college courses if there aren't enough math teachers to go around. If some teachers lose their jobs, so what.