Writing the annotated bibliography was really helpful this
week. I like that all the sources are compiled onto one document instead of
having to go back and forth between the various sources that I have found over
the last couple of weeks. I do not know if I will use all of the sources that I
found, but I used the ones that would be most helpful for my literature review.
The two new sources that I found were really interesting to read. A lot of the
research that I have found says that children in charter schools either do
worse or are no different than students in traditional public schools. I think
that some charter schools depend on the quality of the education, teachers, and
area that the school is in. Many of the studies that I found have used schools
on the east coast to study. There are very little studies for schools on the
west coast. I would really like to find at least one source that talks about a
school in California. I know for a fact that the schools are very different
from state to state.
The two new sources that I found were summaries from
Stanford University studies that were conducted in 2013. They both seemed to be
done by the same foundation, but had different information. Both articles were
written last year and the authors had background in education.
I think one of the aspects of my research that still remains
unanswered is my research question. I have found so much evidence that public
education is better, but it would honestly depend on the environment, teachers,
and children. Charter schools are thought to be better because of the
flexibility of the education and the fact that the curriculum can be
individualized. I think it depends on the student too. They might not do so
well in a traditional public school, but excel in a charter school. It is hard
to tell whether one student does well in either school because they can’t be in
two places at once. Similar to one of my studies I found, I also think that
there needs to be further research in whether students from a charter school
learn more than from a traditional public school.
I think that people who are thinking about enrolling their
child in a charter school should read my research for a brief overview. It does
not go as in depth as it could. There also is not a lot of information on the
topic of the outcome of public schools. I will need to find some last articles
to complete my literature review before I talk about public schools.
Are charter schools better than public schools?
Carnoy, M.,
Jacobsen, R., Mishel, L., & Rothstein, R. (2005). The charter school
dust-up. Economic Policy Institute, Washington DC.
In 2004, there was a controversy over whether charter
schools are more effective than traditional public schools. The American
Federation of Teachers (AFT) publicized test results from the federal
government’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) that showed
that average achievement is higher in public schools. One of the problems with
charter schools is that they hire unusually talented and dedicated teachers or
teachers who may be less qualified than traditional schools. Charter schools
are known for giving a different educational system than traditional schools.
They have a more relaxed feel to their school setting that allows for flexible
learning from their students. Another problem with charter schools is that some
of them are not up to par. They are supposed to be better than public school,
but some are not good at all and raise more disadvantaged students. This source provided a lot of information about the
debate and explained particular downsides of charter school education.
Finn Jr, C. E.,
Manno, B. V., & Vanourek, G. (2001). Charter schools in action: Renewing
public education. Princeton University Press.
The book looks into the world of charter school education
from three and a half years. It is based on a research project that took two
years that was called, “Charter Schools in Action” where the researchers
visited one hundred charter schools, interviewed hundreds of people, surveyed
thousands of parents, students, and teachers, and became familiar with the
policy, environments, and implementation problems from more than a dozen
states. The chapters go through the interviews and profiles of active people in
the charter movement along with the charter school origins and difficulties of
launching a successful charter school. This book is a great source because it
talks about different perspectives of charter schools, the history behind them,
and a research project that took two years to accomplish. It not only talks
about the cons against charter schools, but also the pros. Many of the other sources
that I have found focus mainly on the negatives of charter schools. I am able
to compare different charter schools in the chapters describing the research
study that Finn, Manno, and Vanourek conducted. There is a lot of interesting
information in the book and it provides helpful studies, interviews, and
descriptions of charter schools.
Hoxby, C. M.,
& Rockoff, J. E. (2004). The impact of charter schools on student
achievement. Department of Economics, Harvard University.
Since charter schools were founded in 1992, almost 3,000
charter schools have opened in the United States. They only enroll a very small
number of American students each year. They are supported by public funds, but
receive fees on a per student basis. Charter schools are exempt or partially
exempt from regulations about teacher certification. The results from charter
schools are diverse. They are more flexible and innovative in education and
funding is attached to each individual student. The flexibility of education
allows for students to be catered to depending on their level. This source
explains reasons why charter schools are often chosen over public schools.
Mathis, W.
& Maul, A. (2013). CREDO’s
significantly insignificant findings. National Education Policy Center.
Retrieved from http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2013/0 7/review-credo-2013.
In 2013, The Center for Research on Education Outcomes
announced that charter school students have greater learning gains in reading
than their peers in traditional public schools. The study looked at schools in
27 states and New York City. It attempted to identify differences in student
performance at charter and traditional public schools. The primary findings
were a small positive effect on reading scores and no impact on math scores and
a relative improvement on average school quality since the recent study in
2009. Students in charter schools were estimated to score about 0.01 standard
deviations higher on reading tests and 0.005 standard deviations lower on math
tests than their peers at traditional public schools. This source explains
research that was found comparing public schools and charter schools.
Sanchez, C.
(2013). The charter school vs. the public
school debate continues. National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2013/07/16/201109021/the-charter-school-vs-public-school-debate-continues.
In 2013, there have been publicly funded charter schools
in 41 states and have enrolled more than two million students. A recent study
from Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes concluded
that about a third of the students in charter schools are doing better than
those in traditional public schools. The other students are doing worse or no
better than students in traditional public schools. Significantly disadvantaged
groups of students are doing substantially better in charter schools in reading
and math. Future studies want to look at whether charter school students are
learning more than kids in traditional public schools. This source also
explains the research found comparing the two school systems.
Xin Wei1, x.,
Deepa Patel1, d., & Viki M. Young1, v. (2014). Opening the "black
box": Organizational differences between charter schools and traditional
public schools. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 22(3), 1-31.
A
survey collected data from 2,273 teachers in Texas that explored the
differences in school experiences in charter school and traditional public
school teachers. This study looks at the experiences that the teachers face
like working conditions, student engagement in learning, self-efficacy, and job
satisfaction. Compared to public school, charter school teachers report having
a more supportive teaching environment, higher expectations of students among
staff, and a greater sense of responsibility for student learning. This article
is a little different from previous articles because it talks about the
teachers and the experiences that they face working at a charter school. It is
a good article because it provides information about the teacher’s experiences
and environment at a charter school.
