The New York Times article about student achievement in public, private, and charter schools told only part of the story about student performance in charter schools.
The study uses data from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), but the most current available data is from the 2005 NAEP, which was released in October.
The most recent NAEP data reveal that fourth graders attending public charter schools across the country are making notable strides in reading and math.
Gains were particularly strong in reading, with charter students gaining at a faster rate than students in traditional public schools (whose scores were actually unchanged since 2003).
African-American, Latino, and low-income charter students registered larger reading gains than their fourth-grade peers in non-charter public schools.
Even the Charter, Private Public Schools Achievement study itself notes, "The most important limitation of these data lies in the fact that NAEP data are cross- sectional, not longitudinal.
Hence, NAEP data do not allow for examinations of individual student growth in achievement over time, nor do they include information about student movement between school sectors.
In the meantime, the charter community will continue to build on its 15-year history of providing a high- quality option in public education that is based on innovation, freedom from red tape, and partnership between parents and educators-an option that is giving new hope to disadvantaged and minority families across the country.
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