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The State University of New York Board of Trustees today renewed the charters for ten of New York’s charter schools during their regular monthly meeting held at State University Plaza in Albany. The Trustees renewed the charters of the following schools:
New York City
Amber Charter School
Bronx Preparatory Charter School
Community Partnership Charter School
Harbor Science and Arts Charter School
Merrick Academy – Queens Public Charter School
Buffalo
King Center Charter School
South Buffalo Charter School
Rochester
Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School
Long Island
Child Development Center of the Hamptons Charter School
Roosevelt Children’s Academy Charter School.
“These charter schools were renewed because they provided real evidence of academic success with children and offer parents quality choices in public education,” said Secretary of State and Board of Trustees Vice Chairman Randy A. Daniels, who also co-chairs the Trustees’ Committee on Charter Schools. “Now they must increase the pace of their students’ performance so that they offer consistently high quality educational options to the families in their communities.”
“Charter schools must prove they are worthy of charter renewal,” said Committee Co-chair Ed Cox. “These schools completed a rigorous review process that took into consideration all the key components of their operation. In some cases the Trustees qualified the renewals to reflect the strengths – and weaknesses – evident in the school’s academic results.”
Charter schools are independently operated public schools of choice created by parents, educators, and community leaders, open to all students – tuition free – and designed to improve learning and provide public school choice. Operating under a five-year performance contract, or “charter,” these schools are freed from red tape and top-down educational bureaucracy in exchange for rigorous accountability for student achievement. Public charter schools must adhere to all health, safety and civil rights laws.
Prior to the expiration of its charter, a charter school has the right to apply for a five-year renewal of its charter to the entity that approved the original charter application, no later than six months before the end of the charter.
The Charter Schools Institute’s Renewal Application is built around four basic questions:
1. Is the school an academic success?
2. Is the school and effective, viable organization?
3. Is the school fiscally sound?
4. If the school’s charter is renewed, what are its plans for the term of the next charter?
Upon submission of a renewal application the Institute will review its records and conduct extensive and comprehensive school visit during which parents, students, teachers, administrators and board members are interviewed. The Institute also solicits comment from the general public, including the school district (or districts) in which the charter school students reside.
The Institute then prepared reports of its findings and recommendations, which were forwarded to the charter schools for review of accuracy. The reports were then transmitted to the State University Board of Trustees Committee on Charter Schools.
The Institute’s renewal reports are available at: http://www.nycharters.logical.net/charterny/renewalreports.html.
The following are summaries of the renewal actions taken by the State University Trustees:
School: Amber Charter School
Location: Harlem
Terms of Renewal: Five-year renewal, serving 300 students in Kindergarten through sixth grade and growing to a total enrollment of 620 students during the term of the next charter.
From the Renewal Report:
“In regards to student assessment outcomes, Amber met some, though not all, of the measures of student academic performance it set for itself in its Accountability Plan. In December of 2003, 43.5% of Amber’s third graders scored at proficient or above compared to 21.7% of students enrolled in CSD 5, the district in which the school is located. In 2004, 30.6% of Amber’s third graders passed the test outperforming CSD 5 for the second year in a row. With data limited to one year, Amber Charter School 4th graders outperformed the CSD 5 average passing rate in English language arts and mathematics. 35.3% of Amber’s fourth graders scored proficient or better the 2003-2004 administration of the New York State English language arts assessment compared to CSD 5’s 31.2% passing rate. 70.6% of Amber’s fourth graders passed the state’s mathematics assessment compared to CSD 5’s passing rate of 54.6%. Amber is currently in good standing under No Child Left Behind.”
School: Bronx Preparatory Charter School
Location: Bronx
Terms of Renewal: Five-year renewal, serving 370 students in grades 5-10, and growing to serve 700 students in grades 5-12.
From the Renewal Report:
“In its absolute level of performance on the eighth-grade state examinations, Bronx Prep has exceeded the criterion of success set in its outcome measures …. As a whole, the student achievement data the school has amassed during its first four years of operation indicates that the school has significantly improved student learning and achievement, and the school is in good standing under No Child Left Behind.”
School: Child Development Center of the Hamptons Charter School
Location: Wainscott
Terms of Renewal: Five-year renewal, serving a minimum of 110 students and a maximum of 135 students in grades K-8.
From the Renewal Report:
“In its absolute level of performance on the fourth grade state examinations, based on the four to eight students who have taken the exam each year, CDCH has met the criterion of success set in its outcome measures.”
School: Community Partnership Charter School
Location: Brooklyn
Terms of Renewal: Two-year renewal, serving a maximum of 500 students in grades K-5.
From the Renewal Report:
“CPCS posted mixed academic success over the term of its first charter. The school outperformed similar New York City district public schools as measured by New York City’s third grade ELA and mathematics tests. The school did not post success in approaching the performance of similar district schools or the city-wide average as measured by the New York State 4th grade assessments. These results are based on limited data insofar as it has administered state examinations in only the last year of its four years of operation. [Community Partnership Charter School] asked in its renewal application for authority to provide instruction in grades Kindergarten through eight. The school provides the strongest instructional program in the Kindergarten through third grades. Instruction in grades four and five has yet to consistently enable most students to attain the level of knowledge and skill demanded by state standards. Moreover, while the written plans for providing instruction in all middle school grades is outlined and linked to the requirements of New York State performance standards, the Institute does not find that the school has crafted detailed instruction and assessment plans nor identified the personnel, programs and capacity that permit the Institute to find a likelihood of success in improving student achievement in grades six through eight.”
School: Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School
Location: Rochester
Terms of Renewal: Five-year renewal, serving 320 students in grades K-6, and growing to serve 410 students.
From the Renewal Report:
“Based on all the evidence gathered during the charter period, the Institute has determined that EMHCS has met the standard for a full-term renewal of five years, subject however to the condition that its authority to provide instruction be limited to grades Kindergarten through six, and not the Kindergarten through eighth grade configuration that the school has sought.
In English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics the school outperformed all of its comparison schools on the New York State Fourth Grade assessments. The school made substantial progress on the state’s mathematics examination, virtually reaching its absolute goal in 2003-04 (the most current data available). The school posted only a slight increase in English Language Arts as measured by state assessments …. The school will be well served to refine the implementation of its curricula, significantly English Language Arts, prior to expanding to serve additional middle school grades as such grade levels require students to demonstrate significant facility in increasingly rigorous skills and knowledge. The school would also be well served in amassing evidence of success at current grades prior to providing instruction at additional grade levels.”
School: Harbor Science and Arts Charter School
Location: East Harlem
Terms of Renewal: Two-year renewal, serving a maximum of 210 students in grades 1-8.
From the Renewal Report:
“Harbor has gathered a mixed record of educational achievement as measured by student assessment outcomes… However, in its fifth year, based on efforts that begin in the latter half of the fourth year, the school has effectively implemented measures that place the educational program on sound footing. These measures are likely to lead to educational success and students’ academic improvement with additional time, including meeting or at the least making significant and consistent progress towards meeting the Accountability Plan measures and goals set forth in the school’s Accountability Plan.”
School: King Center Charter School
Location: Buffalo
Terms of Renewal: Two year renewal, serving 105 students in grades K-4.
From the Renewal Report:
“The King Center Charter School has had mixed success in meeting key academic outcomes. Over the life of the charter, the school has generally not met the critical English Language Arts outcomes, the essential measures of basic literacy, it had set for itself. In its absolute level of performance on the 4th grade NYS examinations, King Center has not met the criterion of success set in its ELA outcome measure and has had a low-level of performance during each of the three years the test has been administered. In contrast to ELA, the school met all its math goals and has made progress toward meeting its science goals, in 2003-04. In sum, despite the low ELA performance in the first four years, the school, largely as a result of its Reading First grant, appears to have a strong ELA program. As test results were not available at the time of the renewal visit, the effectiveness of the newly constituted ELA program could not yet be demonstrated with student achievement results. Nevertheless, the qualitative evidence at the time of the renewal visit suggests that the program was being well implemented. However, the qualitative evidence also indicates that the school organization is not prepared to support an expanding enrollment. It appears to need time to firmly establish its ELA program and to develop its instructional supervision in order to accommodate the possibility of an expanding teaching staff.”
School: Merrick Academy – Queens Public Charter School
Location: Queens Village
Terms of Renewal: Five-year renewal, serving 450 students in grades K-6 for the 2004-05 school year; thereafter, the school may enroll a maximum of 570 students in grades K-5.
From the Renewal Report:
“In its comparative level of performance on the fourth grade state examinations, Merrick has mostly outperformed in ELA the similar schools in Community School District (CSD) 29 it identified in its Accountability Plan. It scored higher than two of the three comparison schools scored, and about the same as the third school scored, on the ELA examination in both 2002-03 and 2003-04 and on the science examination in 2002-03. In the case of math, it outperformed one of the comparison schools in 2002-03, but none of the schools in 2003-04. Merrick’s ELA and math performance in comparison to CSD 29 follows the same pattern as that of the similar schools: better in ELA and not as good in math.
The school asked in its renewal application for authority to provide instruction in grades Kindergarten through eight. While the instructional program at the Kindergarten through fourth grades is strong, the program in grades five, and especially six, is less so. Moreover, while the written plans for providing instruction in all middle school grades are nominally complete, the Institute does not find that the school has the personnel, programs and capacity that permit the Institute to find a likelihood of success in improving student achievement in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.”
School: Roosevelt Children’s Academy Charter School
Location: Roosevelt
Terms of Renewal: Five year renewal, subject to the following additional conditions: 1) Roosevelt Children’s Academy must identify a suitable facility to allow for expansion to serve students in Kindergarten through grade eight and provide for the Trustees’ approval an enrollment plan that suits expansion in enrollment; and 2) Roosevelt Children’s Academy will provide, for the Trustees’ approval, a staffing plan for middle school grades that articulates the subject area expertise and experience the school seeks in staffing a Kindergarten through grade eight instructional program.
From the Renewal Report:
“In its absolute level of performance on the fourth grade examinations, Roosevelt met its absolute objectives on all three state examinations for fourth graders in 2002-03, and posted a still higher level of performance on the English language arts examination in 2003-04 with 84.6 percent of the school’s fourth graders passing. This score exceeded the district average by 16 percentage points. Eighty-two percent of RCA’s fourth graders passed the state’s fourth grade mathematics examination exceeding the average of the Roosevelt Union Free School District by two percent. As a whole, the student achievement data the school has amassed during its first four years of operation indicates that the school has significantly improved student learning and achievement, and the school is in good standing under No Child Left Behind.”
School: South Buffalo Charter School
Location: Buffalo
Terms of Renewal: Five-year renewal, serving 533 students in Kindergarten through 8th grade.
From the Renewal Report:
“South Buffalo Charter School has met or exceeded most of its goals on key academic measures. In its absolute level of performance on the fourth grade state English language arts examinations, 67% of South Buffalo 4th graders attending the school for two or more years passed the state exam compared to 34.3% of all 4th graders enrolled in the Buffalo City School District. Also in 2003-2004, the most recent data available, 81.1% of 4th graders attending SBCS for two or more years passed the state mathematics examination compared to 62.5% of all 4th graders in the Buffalo City School District passing the test. With one exception in its first year, SBCS outperformed the Buffalo City School District in English language arts and mathematics in each year of operation where data is available. In 2003-04, it had almost twice as many students as the Buffalo City Schools scoring at the proficient level or higher. Notably, 98% of SBCS students attending the school for two or more years scored at the proficient level or higher on the state’s 4th grade science examination. As 2004-2005 is the first year the school has enrolled eighth graders, at the time of this recommendation, no quantitative data on student performance is available. Analysis of the qualitative data gathered at the sixth through eighth grade level during the renewal visit suggests the school’s program at that level is sufficient and maturing into a program likely to be as strong as that in Kindergarten through fifth grade. The school has significantly improved student learning and achievement, and the school is in good standing under No Child Left Behind.”
The Charter Schools Institute was created by the University Trustees to administer their responsibilities under the Charter Schools Act of 1998, including the review of applications, assisting in the development of charter school accountability plans, and considering charters for renewal. The Institute has become recognized as a national leader in the public charter school movement, providing extensive experience in charter schools and all aspects of public education, including curriculum, school operations, accountability, fiscal oversight and program development. |
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