On exam, charter schools get edge

Massachusetts charter school students are performing as well as, or better than, their counterparts in regular public schools, in contrast to a recent national study, according to a state report released yesterday.

About 60 percent of the charter school students fared about the same as their peers in regular schools on state MCAS exams in English and math, while 30 percent performed ``significantly higher," according to the study commissioned by the state Department of Education. About 10 percent of the charter schools fared worse.

The study provoked mixed reviews amid debate over the future of charter schools. Last week, a report, which focused on a sampling of the nation's charter schools, found that on average, fourth-graders in regular public schools outperformed charter school pupils in reading and math on a national exam.

In the Bay State, charter school proponents hailed the state's study as proof that the experimental public schools are working and deserve to be expanded. Lawmakers created the experimental public schools 13 years ago to find new ways to boost student achievement. Now the state's 57 charter schools -- with two more opening this fall -- have more freedom than regular schools to set longer school days, establish a creative course of study, and assign staff members where they are needed. Most teachers work outside the union.

``Too often the question of whether or not charter schools are successful becomes a politically-charged debate," David P. Driscoll, state education commissioner, said in a statement. ``We chose to have this analysis done to put an end to that debate once and for all."

Anne Wass, the new president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which opposes charter schools, said the study was flawed because the charter schools' demographics didn't necessarily mirror the cities they are in.

``It doesn't put an end to the debate on charter schools by any means," Wass said of the study.

Jeff Wulfson , associate commissioner of the state Department of Education, said the findings show that charter schools outperform regular public schools, even when demographics are taken into account. For example, the study found that students in Boston's charter schools, including black and Hispanics who have scored lower in the past, performed significantly better than students in regular public schools.

``There's been a lot of resistance to people learning from charter schools," Wulfson said. ``This report shows that there are a significant number of high-performing charter schools, and therefore, we should be trying to learn what they're doing."

The study, conducted for the state by the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment Inc., examined the test scores of 52 charter schools in existence from 2001 to 2005. Four charter schools were excluded because they served students from multiple towns or did not have test scores available.

Paul S. Grogan , president of the Boston Foundation, which finances some charter schools and regular public schools in the Boston area, said the state's findings show that the Legislature should lift a spending cap on charter schools. He credits the charters with spurring Boston to experiment with pilot schools, which give teachers and principals more flexibility than regular schools.

He said Massachusetts charter schools might fare better than others nationally because the state provides strict oversight. ``We're going to continue to go through a period of many dueling studies and warring interpretations," said Grogan. ``At a minimum I think we can be assured that the charter school experiment in Massachusetts is going pretty darn well."

Charter schools account for about 20,000 of the state's 972,000 students, about 2 percent overall .