Study: Math gains at for-profit schools
PHILADELPHIA --Students at 30 city schools run by for-profit companies learned more math than would have been expected had the low-performing schools remained under district management, according to a study released Thursday.
The students learned about two-thirds of a year more in math over a four-year period, Harvard University researchers found in a study funded in part by a for-profit education company.
"The conclusion I would draw is you certainly should not end the for-profit experiment. You should also consider extending it," said lead author Paul E. Peterson, director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at the Kennedy School of Government.
The study found about a quarter-year of improvement in reading scores, but did not consider that statistically significant.
Peterson's analysis was based on data provided by the Philadelphia School District, including test scores and demographic and enrollment data for students in grades 2 to 8 between 2001 and 2006.
The financially and academically troubled district asked for-profit education companies to manage 30 underperforming elementary and middle schools beginning in summer 2002.
An additional 16 low-performing schools were contracted out to nonprofit managers, while 21 were restructured by the district. Sixteen other schools were given extra fiscal resources.
A district spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the John M. Olin Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and
Edison managed 20 of the 30 schools involved in the study, but Peterson said the company's funding had no effect on his report.
"It's just what the facts show," Peterson said.
An Edison spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The study found an even greater disparity between students at schools managed by for-profit and nonprofit companies. Students at for-profit schools received more than a year of extra math learning over four years compared with their nonprofit counterparts, he said.
"(It's) a strong sign that for-profit management has proved superior to nonprofit management in Philadelphia," the study said.
A report released by another group in February found that 41 schools run by private managers, at a cost of an extra $90 million to the district, did not outperform other district schools on state and national tests.
The study by Philadelphia-based Research for Action and the Rand Corp. showed that students who performed best on the tests were those in 21 "restructured" schools under district management that got additional math and reading time, teacher coaches and other special attention.
The Philadelphia school district serves more than 184,000 students at 291 schools, not including charter schools.
