Interesting observations of charter schools in Washington
Editorial in Washington Post examines charter school successes.
Charter Techniques in Public Schools
While evidence to support the claim that charter schools provide new opportunities for struggling students has received significant attention, a recent New York Times article entitled “Troubled Schools Try Mimicking the Charters” provides ground-breaking evidence to substantiate the hypothesis that competition with charter schools will lead public schools to adopt innovative techniques to improve student learning.
The article reports that the Houston, Texas, school district has enacted a set of education policies based upon five successful charter school practices identified by Harvard University researcher Roland G. Fryer: 1) longer school days and years, 2) more rigorous and selective hiring of principals and teachers, 3) frequent quizzes whose results determine what needs to be retaught, 4) ‘high-dosage tutoring,’ and 5) a ‘no excuses’ culture. The district spent $19 million on the effort during its first year, hiring new principals, teachers and tutors and paying severance to teachers that retired instead of participating. With 100 charter schools competing with 300 public schools, Houston is a likely location for education competition to result in innovative practices in public schools.
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