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charter schools Archives - North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools

Sep 28
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New Study: Attending KIPP Charter Schools Helps Boost College Completion

By News, Research

Students who attend KIPP middle and high schools are much more likely to enroll in–and finish–college than students who don’t. Those are the exciting findings from a new Mathematica study, released earlier this month.

KIPP, an acronym for Knowledge Is Power Program, is a national nonprofit network of public charter schools in 21 states and Washington, D.C. The network consists of 275 schools, serving 120,000 mostly minority and economically disadvantaged students. In North Carolina, KIPP’s network features eight public charter schools, including several Coalition member schools.

Here’s the write-up from KIPP about the findings:

The study followed 2,066 students from ten regions who applied to join KIPP in 5th and 6th grade via an admissions lottery. These students graduated from high school in the classes of 2016, 2017, and 2019 … Researchers tracked the college enrollment and persistence patterns of all three cohorts for at least three years after high school graduation.

… The study concludes that students who persist at KIPP from middle school to high school experience a large, long-term boost in their college outcomes.

KIPP impacts and college completion

Specifically, KIPP graduates were 31% more likely to enroll in college than students who did not attend KIPP middle and high schools. Almost twice as many KIPP graduates earned a degree from a four-year college within five years, compared to non-KIPP students (39% versus 20%).  Such impacts, KIPP notes, are “large enough to close the degree completion gap for Black students and nearly close the degree completion gap for Latinx students in the United States.”

Source: “Long-Term Impacts of KIPP Middle and High Schools on College Enrollment, Persistence, and Attainment,” Mathematica, September 12, 2023.

Read the Mathematica study, KIPP’s summary, or The 74 article about the study.

Sep 21
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Greensboro Academy Named 2023 National Blue Ribbon School

By News
The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday announced the 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools. Public and private schools nationwide are eligible for Blue Ribbon recognition in one of two categories: Exemplary High-Performing Schools or Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools.

Eight N.C. schools named 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools

This year, the Education Department recognized 353 schools across the country, including eight schools in North Carolina. One of these schools, Greensboro Academy, is a public charter school managed by National Heritage Academies as well as a Coalition member school. Greensboro Academy was recognized as an Exemplary High-Performing School.

In a press release, State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said:

These schools are a shining example of the incredible things North Carolina’s public schools are capable of accomplishing. I’m so proud of the students, teachers, staff members, and leadership of each of these schools for their hard work over the past year.
Congratulations to all of the National Blue Ribbon Schools–but especially to Greensboro Academy and the North Carolina public schools! The Coalition is proud of your achievements.
  • Watch the video announcement of the 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
  • Click here or on the image below to see the 2023 infographic.

Sep 12
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Coalition responds to State Board of Ed. policy threatening charter funding

By News

Last Thursday, the State Board of Education voted 8-3 to approve a new policy that threatens funding for new  charter schools. This policy, CHTR-022, requires the Charter Schools Review Board to present all approved applications, renewals, and material revisions to the State Board for funding allocation before any state or federal funds can be disbursed, to ensure schools are in compliance. It comes in response to Session Law 2023-110 converting the Charter Schools Advisory Board into the Charter Schools Review Board, with authority to approve and renew charters.

State Treasurer Dale Folwell, Dr. Olivia Oxendine, and Lt. Governor Mark Robinson voted against the policy. State Superintendent Catherine Truitt, a non-voting member of SBE, also voiced concerns.

Coalition response to the State Board’s policy

The Coalition issued a press release and statement in response to the State Board’s policy, noting that it violates state law and threatens to withhold funds from new public charter schools. In the release, Coalition Executive Director Lindalyn Kakadelis said:

North Carolina charter schools are enormously popular with families, as evidenced by the 77,000 names on charter school waitlists. The legislature streamlined the approval process for new public charter schools to meet this demand. The State Board of Education is wrong to play these bureaucratic power games when parents just want options in their public schooling.

The Coalition also sent a letter to SBE members outlining concerns about the policy.

Read more

Aug 30
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Sixteen N.C. Charter Schools Make Annual List of Best High Schools

By News

Sixteen North Carolina charter schools earned a top-50 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking, released yesterday, of the state’s best public high schools. Top 2023-24 high schools across the nation, according to the publication, were those producing high student test scores and “strong underserved student performance, college readiness and curriculum breadth, as well as graduation rates.”

Today the Coalition distributed a press release highlighting the achievement of these 16 charter schools. Find the release here.

The N.C. charter schools earning a top-50 spot for 2023-24 were:

  • Raleigh Charter High School, #5
  • Woods Charter School, #9
  • Community School of Davidson, #13
  • Pine Lake Preparatory, #15
  • Gray Stone Day School, #16
  • Lake Norman Charter, #21
  • Research Triangle High School, #22
  • The North Carolina Leadership Academy, #27
  • The Hawbridge School, #37
  • Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, #38
  • Longleaf School of the Arts, #40
  • Triangle Math and Science Academy, #43
  • Franklin Academy, #45
  • Oxford Preparatory School, #46
  • Henderson Collegiate, #47
  • Pinnacle Classical Academy, #49

Six of these schools are Coalition member schools (highlighted in bold).

See the ranking of all N.C. public high schools here. View the charter-only list of top public high schools here.

Aug 29
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2023-24 Back-to-school charter facts

By News

Across the state yesterday, many students headed back to school for the first day of the 2023-24 school year. At a number of public charter schools, students had already begun the year. In honor of the official launch of the 2023-24 school year, the Coalition yesterday distributed a press release with key back-to-school charter facts. Among them:

  • 211 public charter schools are operating in North Carolina this year. This figure includes seven new charter schools.
  • Over the past decade, there has been a 172% increase in public charter school enrollment.
  • In the 2022-23 school year, 77,000 student names were on waitlists for public charter schools. Over 137,000 students attended N.C. charter schools.

The Coalition asked schools to send in 2023-24 applicant/waitlist information in Spring 2023. Some highlights:

In the release, Lindalyn Kakadelis, the executive director of the Coalition, said:

Public charter schools are an incredibly popular choice for North Carolina families, and demand continues to grow. Charter schools are public and free to attend. Through innovative curricula like drone pilot licensing programs, manufacturing certifications, and more, public charter schools offer something different.

Read the Coalition’s back-to-school press release.

Aug 22
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Dispelling Misconceptions about Public Charter Schools

By News

Misconceptions about public charter schools abound. As a recent national poll discovered, even some public school teachers are unaware of some basic facts about charter schools. (Read more about that on the Coalition blog.) Fact: Charter schools are public schools. They’re free for students to attend, and they’re open to all. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is tackling common misconceptions head-on (as is the Coalition!). We have some great resources to share.

  • Here’s one: Listen to a podcast with David Griffith, the associate director of research at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.
  • Here’s another: View a sidebar comparison of the differences between district and public charter schools.
  • Explore the Coalition’s new online resource: An About Charter Schools web kit.
  • Watch our video introduction to charter schools from State Superintendent Catherine Truitt below.

Aug 10
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New National Poll: ‘Listen to Your Teacher’

By News

A new report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools explores teachers’ views on K-12 education, with some notable findings. Titled “Listen to Your Teacher: An Analysis of Teacher Sentiment on the State of Public Education,” the report includes poll findings from over 1,200 public charter and district school teachers. While many teachers are tired–and concerned about students–charter teachers report more durable motivation and higher levels of job satisfaction.

The Alliance released some of the poll findings in a sneak peek memo earlier this summer. (Read a Coalition blog post about that memo.) But this week’s report also provides in-depth analysis, and comes at a time when concerns are rising about teacher attrition. In fact, citing analysis from Chalkbeat of six states–including North Carolina–the Alliance notes that “more teachers left in 2021–22 than ‘at any point on record.'”

Some key findings about teachers overall

  • Most teachers support public school choice (78% of district teachers and 87% of charter teachers).
  • A majority of teachers are weary and worried: 58% are worried or anxious, 67% are burned out, and 72% are overwhelmed.
  • Teachers are quite concerned about students: 84% said student mental health is “at an all-time low.”

Key findings about charter school teachers

  • Charter school teachers are more likely to be satisfied with their work: 97% of charter teachers vs. 83% of district teachers.
  • They’re also more likely to report steady or increased motivation to teach. Seventy-nine percent of charter school teachers say they are as motivated–or more motivated–to teach than when they first started, compared to just 34% of district teachers.
  • Charter school teachers are less likely to consider leaving. More than half, 52%, have “never considered leaving the profession,” compared to 20% of district teachers.

Misconceptions and information gaps persist about charter schools

The report also highlights some surprising gaps in information. In particular, many teachers do not know that charter schools are public and free.

  • A majority of district teachers, 52%, don’t know that charter schools are free. The same is true of 43% of charter school teachers. Moreover, 51% of district teachers don’t understand that charter schools are public, along with 38% of charter school teachers.

Source: “Listen to Your Teacher: An Analysis of Teacher Sentiment on the State of Public Education,” National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, August 9, 2023.

As the Alliance notes,

These widespread misunderstandings about charter schools, even among teachers who work at them, seem to indicate that more and clearer public discussion about the unique features— and benefits—of charter schools is needed.

Download the full report here.

Aug 03
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National Review Op-Ed: ‘Gap-buster’ Roger Bacon Academy

By News

Baker Mitchell, founder of the Roger Bacon Academy, has a new op-ed in National Review about RBA as a “gap-busting” charter network. The Roger Bacon Academy earned this national recognition in a new landmark study from Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO). The third of its kind, the CREDO study assessed nearly 2 million charter students over a period of four years, comparing them to matched students in district schools.

Read more about the CREDO study on the Coalition blog (here, here, and here).

The Roger Bacon Academy operates four classical charter schools–all of them Coalition member schools— in Southeastern North Carolina.

Here’s an excerpt from Baker Mitchell’s National Review op-ed:

[CREDO] researchers found that “in both reading and math charter schools provide students with stronger learning” than the traditional public schools they ordinarily would have attended. Among charters, those in group networks administered by charter-management organizations generally did best.

…While the overall results should be enough to shake up the education bureaucracy, “the real surprise of the study,” the researchers reported, was “the number of charter schools that . . . achieved educational equity for their students” — eliminating, for all practical purposes, the achievement gap between white students and “minority and poverty students.” They coined the term “gap busters” to describe such schools.

Charter-management-organization networks were credited with being “gap busters” if (1) the network’s average achievement percentages were above their state’s traditional school averages, and (2) the added days of learning above the traditional schools was as strong for disadvantaged students as for non-disadvantaged students. Of the 378 networks the researchers evaluated, the Roger Bacon Academy, I’m proud to say, was among the highest rated.

Congratulations to Baker Mitchell and Roger Bacon Academy!

Find a pdf of the op-ed here.

Jul 28
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U.S. Rep. Foxx: Charter schools are ‘conduits of opportunity’

By News

Publication of groundbreaking research from Stanford University has prompted renewed discussion in Congress about charter schools as avenues for educational opportunity. Citing a new study from Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO)–revealing significant achievement gains for students attending charter schools–U.S. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx  of North Carolina noted the following on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives:

At a time when the reading and math scores of our nation’s students have plummeted, the results of this study serve as a beacon of hope for millions of American families. Simply put, charter schools serve as conduits of opportunity.

Rep. Foxx, who represents North Carolina’s 5th District, chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Watch her full remarks below:

The 2023 study is CREDO’s third national evaluation of charter schools. Take a deeper dive in CREDO’s 2023 digital report. Read more about the CREDO study here and here on the Coalition blog.

Jul 18
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Congressional lawmakers want to boost funding for Charter Schools Program

By News

Funding for the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) may get a boost. Congressional lawmakers are proposing an additional $10 million for CSP, which provides grants for new charter schools as well as charter school replication and expansion across the country. Program funding has not increased in recent years.

Nina Rees, the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, released a statement about the proposed funding increase, which is in the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee’s FY 24 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Bill. She noted:

All students and families deserve access to a high-quality public education. We thank the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee members for recognizing the value and educational opportunity public charter schools provide to families across the nation with an increase of $10 million to the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) and by providing important new flexibility for state program operators. The program, which has been flat funded for four years, expands opportunities for students.

Read the bill text here.