Volume I, Issue 15, September 23, 2005
Charter Leader News
State Math Scores Show NYC Charter Schools Improving Performance
The state math scores are in and NYC public charter schools continue to improve
their academic performance.
According to New York State Education Department (SED) test data, nearly 77 percent
of all 4th graders in NYC public charter schools met or exceeded proficiency standards
on the state math test, improving their average scores over last year by 9.6 percentage
points. That compares with 77 percent of all city 4th graders - an increase of 9.3
percentage points from last year.
As for NYC's 8th grade public charter school students, 65 percent met or exceeded
state standards compared with 41 percent of all city 8th graders.
We congratulate the students on their progress and for the dramatic increase
in 4th grade math scores. We are particularly pleased that 8th graders in the
city's public charter schools improved by seven percentage points over last year. As always, we challenge charter schools to work even harder to improve upon these
results.
This week's issue of the Charter Leader News covers the following:
-
Uniform testing
-
Caroline Hoxby study update
-
Reminder to attend Oct. 11 "Back to School" reception
-
Charter School "Blackboard Award" winners, and
-
Web sites serving Katrina victims
Thank you,
212-437-8310
Christine Pendry
VP for Grantmaking
212-437-8313
*At your direction, we can include other leaders from your school or your Education
Management Organization (EMO) on the distribution list. Please let us know.
State and City in Agreement on duplicate testing:
The State Education Department and the New York City Department of Education
recently came to an agreement that eliminates the need for duplicate testing by
the city and state in math and English Language Arts (ELA). All students in grades
3 through 8 will now take one set of tests in the areas of math and ELA. State
officials in Albany have agreed to pay additional monies to CTB/McGraw Hill to
expedite the reporting of preliminary state testing results, so that school officials
can use these scores in making promotion decisions.
Caroline Hoxby Charter School Study Update:
Nearly all of the NYC public charter schools have submitted student application
data for the landmark study being conducted by Harvard University Economist, Caroline
Hoxby. Once Professor Hoxby has gathered data from the participating charter schools
she will begin obtaining corresponding data from the NYC Department of Education
and start the process of generating individualized school reports for each charter
school.
If you have not already done so, please provide student application data on your
school to Professor Hoxby. If you have not yet been able to send application data to the study, please contact
Sonali Murarka at (617) 588-1484 or schools@nber.org.
Back to School Reception - October 11, 2005:
There is still time to RSVP for the Charter Center's "Back to School" reception:
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 from 6:00-9:00 pm at:
The Manhattan Penthouse -17th floor
80 Fifth Avenue (at 14th Street)
New York, NY 10011
This is our way of honoring your hard work and bringing together all current
school leaders to network and support each other. It's also an opportunity to
hear from school leaders directing the work of the six key priority areas identified
by the Charter School Leader Network.
Please RSVP for this event by emailing Alafia Brown at abrown@nycchartercenter.org by September 30, 2005. We look forward to celebrating the start of an excellent
new school year with you.
Blackboard Awards Recognize Five Charter Schools:
Five NYC charter schools will be honored for receiving five-year charter renewals
as part of the 2005 Blackboard Awards (Oct. 17). They are: Amber Charter School, Bronx Prep Charter School, KIPP Academy Charter School,
Merrick Academy Charter School and Renaissance Charter School.
Each year the Blackboard Awards highlight notable achievements by schools across
New York's educational systems. For the first time, the awards program will include a category for charter schools.
The Charter Center is proud to be a sponsor of this year's awards and congratulates
all of the award recipients.
"Hurricane Help for Schools" Web site established by USDOE:
Our hearts and best wishes continue to go out to the victims of Katrina. In response
to those of you who have asked about relief efforts involving aide to schools,
students and families affected by this disaster, here's some useful information.
The U.S. Department of Education's "Hurricane Help for Schools" is an interactive
Web site where schools affected by the disaster can post messages concerning resources
they need and can be connected to companies, organizations and individuals offering
supplies, notebook paper, pencils, pens, calculators and other resources. The
site -
http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov/index.html - links to the American Red Cross, USA Freedom Corps, and other organizations,
such as the
I Am Foundation, which can donate children’s books to affected areas.
We will continue to keep you posted on other relief services as they come to
our attention.
Mission:
The mission of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence is to stimulate
the supply of high quality charter schools and support ongoing student excellence
in all NYC charter schools, impacting the effectiveness of public education. As
an independent nonprofit, the Charter Center is an advocate, bridge and catalyst
for the achievement of academic and operational success and sustainability of
all NYC charter schools for each young person.
