Evaluating Charter Schools

Charter schools are a hot-button issue, and oceans of research are pouring out from organizations all over the country. Some say only a tiny percentage are producing students who are performing better than those who attend traditional public schools. Others show that in some cities, charter schools are saving the educational futures of thousands of children.

Margaret (Macke) Raymond, a researcher at Stanford University, said a decade ago, journalists placed little reliance on research. She talked about the "challenging responsibility" that journalists have to sift out the reliable sources and information. She said there is purpose and facts in every piece of research produced, but there is also bias. Knowing the organization's agenda can help in finding out which way they'll slant.

Raymond also pointed out that every study design has its strengths and weaknesses--if a researcher doesn't acknowledge that, they are driven too much by ego or bias.

Eva Moskowitz, the founder of the Success Charter Network in Harlem, said she has "a tremendous skepticism of data."

"I know it's almost not educationally, or politically correct," said Moskowitz, a former New York City council member. "Of course, we believe in data, we're data-driven, but it's really complicated."

Moskowitz gave an example of a typically high-performing student who may not feel well, or are experiencing family problems. The parents may have been embroiled in an argument that morning, or the father may be in the local precinct. Six kindergartners could have had a stomachache.

"If those kids don't do well, it looks like the teacher's lousy," Moskowitz said. "We know she's not. We go and see her teach. When you're dealing with little kids especially, emotions come in. We still use data, but when dealing with kids, we have to consider it with a dose of skepticism."

Moskowitz said a "perfectly legitimate approach" to breaking down the nuances of research is to call the sources. Every good reporter has a large network of sources to help analyze data. And contacting the people who are affected by those numbers can be "illuminating," Moskowitz said, but of course there will be a bias attached.

After the women wrapped up their advice for using research, reporters--several from Moskowitz' home state of New York--used the question-and-answer portion of the session to vent frustrations about what they called a lack of transparency in charter school data. Journalists said they have trouble getting special education statistics, expulsion and suspension data and teacher retention and salary numbers.

Moskowitz defended the claims, saying charter schools report "voluminous" information to many agencies. She also shed light on the "knock-down, drag-out fight" in New York over charter schools.

"It's hand-to-hand combat of the nastiest kind you could possible imagine," she said. "I'm not sure at the end of the day that it furthers public debate."

Raymond said the fight has only begun, and that most of country is only in the first of four wars that will be waged against charters in the next five years. First, school districts were trying to ignore charter schools, acting as if they are inconsequential and irrelevant. The second war is an orchestrated campaign of misinformation, which has certainly begun, and then the war of lawsuits, which has also been emerging. The last will just be "all out Armageddon," which Raymond said she saw in the airline and telecommunication industries.

"This is only the beginning of a very carefully strategize campaign against the charter school system," she said.

Moskowitz said she felt the charter schools were targeted, but at the end of the day, she knows that reporting is crucial.

"I think that when schools suck, you should write about them."