Study of Denver Finds Large Gains from Portfolio Era
A major study of Denver Public Schools’ (DPS’) implementation of a portfolio approach to charter schools, by Parker Baxter from CU Denver, found large positive effects on student achievement.
The study controlled for changes in the district’s enrollment. Examining only students who had been in the district prior to the reforms and who stayed for two years during the reform era, it found large and credible evidence that key elements of the charter school theory of change can have a substantial impact on student learning.
According to Baxter,
“One of the big lessons of this report is that active authorizing by school districts matters for kids and plays a big role in driving and sustaining systemic improvements.”
The study explored overall achievement, as well as three components of a portfolio strategy:
- New school creation;
- Closure of persistently low-performing schools, and
- District-led school turnaround.
This study and a previous study of the overall impact by Baxter found that throughout the district, students benefited from the city’s comprehensive reform approach.
This new study found that students attending new schools and students whose previous school was closed for low performance, saw large and significant improvements in achievement; whereas students in schools that were identified for district-led school turnaround, had lower performance after identification.
The benefits of closing schools and opening new high-quality schools were particularly large for black and Hispanic students and those from low-income families who had attended charter schools that were later closed by the district.
You can read the study and its summary, as well as coverage on Colorado Public Radio.
Come talk with the author and dive into the study findings more deeply at an upcoming webinar with Baxter on Friday, November 1st, at noon, MDT, registration. The scale of the positive effects is remarkable compared to most other studies of reforms’ impact on student learning. According to the report:
“This study shows, using student-level data, that Denver’s reforms were among the most effective and comprehensive in U.S. history. Together with earlier system-level research, this study provides rigorous, empirical evidence that Denver’s reforms dramatically improved student achievement in the city, including for students who directly experienced the district’s most impactful reforms.”
Methodologically, the study examined only students who had been in the district for at least two years prior to the reform who remained in the district during the reform for at least two years, controlling for any increase in achievement that may have been driven by the influx of new students into the district during this reform period, when the enrollment in DPS increased dramatically. Previous studies, also finding significant and positive effects, had not been able to control for the impact a changing student population as well as this new study.
This study is noteworthy for NN4DA members because many in the charter school sector have developed positions opposed to closing any but the most severely under-performing charter schools. This study is a helpful reminder of the theory of change in which failing charter schools are closed, while new options for students with higher performance are developed to ensure that, over time, the portfolio is higher performing and students are no longer falling behind in persistently struggling, low-quality schools.
________________________________________
NN4DA Webinar on CCAP Anti-Fraud Date & Time Changed
The date for the NN4DA Webinar on the CCAP Anti-Fraud Taskforce has moved to Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 11:00 am, registration.
CCAP responded to a major fraud event in California by convening a state-wide taskforce to examine the issue. The final report from this effort discusses how to avoid, identify, and address fraud in charter schools. This includes work at the authorizer and policy level that can collectively safeguard the public interest while honoring charter school autonomy. For homework, you can read the Taskforce Report which includes ideas relevant in any state.