INTRODUCTIONThefuture of the world is in my classroom today.- IvanWelton FitzwaterChoosingthe right schools for our children is a very important decision as a parent.The school will be the place to continue the formation that started at home,moreover, children will learn social interaction, ethics, moral, and academicsubjects. Private schools are very good but an expensive option to consider.Another good option is opting for free education from either a public school orcharter schools. Publicschools are schools that offer free public education for children, funded andcontrol by three levels of government, federal: The United States Department ofEducation, state: The State department, and local: school district.
Theseschools are basically elementary and secondary education (Teach.com, 2018). Thegovernment has direct control over allaspects of the school, educational curriculum, academic calendars, standardizetest, budgeting, administration, and employees (principal, teachers,administrative personal, etc.).Charterschools are public schools that are independent ofthe regulations of district schools. These schools operate under a charter orcontract typically lasting five years and will continue upon revision of theterms or academic results stated in the charter (NYC Department of Education,2016). Unlike, public schools, charter schools have autonomy over the operationand management of the school, including but not limited to control ofeducational curriculum, budgeting, extra curriculum activities, calendars,hiring personal, etc.
Based on a preliminary investigation of public schools incomparison with charter schools; the following research question and hypothesishave been developed:Question: Which are the factors parents consider whenchoosing between public schools versus chapter schools?Hypothesis: The factors the parents consider most whenchoosing public schools versus chapter schools are: level of education, a variety of extracurricular activities, seat availability, and personal attention.The following two academic journal reviewsseek to demonstrate and support this hypothesis. METHODOLOGYNotall research requires the collection of new data. Sometimes researchers use existing datasources, such as research and data collected by others. Data most widely used by researchers isgathered by government agencies such as the U.
S. Census Bureau, State Agenciesand local units of governments. Forpurposes of this preliminary research assignment, an extensive review of theexisting literature was conducted using academic journals.
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This approach saves time and money and wasendorsed in class. Based on researchfindings, others may wish to extend my work by using some of the other researchmethods commonly used by social scientists such as surveys and interviews. LITERATUREREVIEWThe authors of the academic journal “Starting Behind: A Comparative Analysis of the Academic Standing of Students Entering Charter Schools” Garcia, McIlroy, and Barber demonstrated that students entering a charter school are at an academic disadvantage in comparison with the students that choose to transfer to public schools, affecting the agreement to improve and maintain a high level of academic standards, will negatively affect how the school will be evaluated for the continuation of the program. To do this they rely on the use of statistical data from the Arizona and Washington DC state records. Charter schools are public entities funded by the state that operate under a charter or contract that has fewer regulations with more independent autonomy than public schools. These contracts typically last five years and will continue upon revision of the terms or academic results stated in the charter by comparing them with the educational results of the district schools. Charter schools claim they need special consideration when they are going through the process of academic evaluation that might lead to a possible cancellation of the program mainly because they enroll more students that are at an academic disadvantage than public schools.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) defined a “disadvantaged student” as a student that qualifies for free or reduced school lunch, is part of a minority group, and/or participates in a special education program. After several studies across the country, it still cannot be determined that students in charter schools have poor academic performance compared to students from public schools. The authors explained that the most recent debate started after the reports presented by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), demonstrated in their records that disadvantaged students in charter schools have lower academic achievement in comparison with public schools. Moreover, NAEP shows that, in fact, a higher number of disadvantaged students are enrolled in charter schools. In contrast, studies between district schools and the charter schools in Washington DC that enrolls students with significant disadvantages do not show a big difference in academic achievement. Charter schools in Arizona are presented to parents as the best-free educational option in addition to public schools where the students will improve significantly their academic level. As consequence, parents are making the decision to transfer their children to such schools hoping for the improvement offered.
Charter school’s opponents alluded that parents transferring their children to charter schools to get a better education are leaving the public schools without a group of students that play significant roles in the progress of their classmates. A classroom where students have different levels of learning can create a challenge for teachers to bring those who may not do so well to the same level as their classmates. Furthermore, parents of the students transferring that used to be actively involved in the school will leave also, slowing down its progress. Garcia, McIlroy, and Barber concluded that upon renewal of the charter, the committee in charge should carefully consider not only the school’s academic achievement but also the information obtained in a wider spectrum. For example, in the data analyzed by the authors, shows that students that transfer from the same types of schools, public to public, or charter to charter, have the same academic level.
In contrast, the students who transfer from public to charter are in disadvantage from their classmates; and the students that transfer from charter to public present a higher academic level than their peers. In further support of this findings, the authors of the academic journal “From Policy to Practice: Implementation of Legislative Objectives of Charter Schools” Barghaus and Boe explain the importance of implementing rules or legislative objectives that regulate the activities of charter schools in order to increase academic achievement and maintain the promises stipulated on the charter. Charter schools have been growing in popularity over the years and more states are authorizing their creation. The main purpose of the charter schools is to provide families with more options for their children’s education. The authors focus this journal on three legislative objectives: classroom options, teacher’s participation in learning objectives, and freedom from state regulations.Classroom options refers to the implementation of a smaller classroom size or study groups to personalize attention to students, as well as adding extra hours of classes if needed, and “looping” teachers with the same group of students during the school year and consecutive years following that to reassure their support to students and their academic success.
Teachers in charter schools are active participants in decisions concerning the learning objectives they are expected to meet, discipline, and classroom policies. In addition, they participate in the hiring of instructors or colleagues. The authors mention that it is not clear whether the level of autonomy or freedom from the school district’s regulations that charter schools have in comparison with district schools, however, they have complete control over the school budget, employees, school policies, and their educational curriculum.
Barghaus and Boe compared the implementation of these legislative objectives in charter schools versus those public schools, from grades K-12, from the same states. In general, there are five categories used as different classroom education options such as traditional education, advanced programs, gifted and talented programs, vocational and technical education, and non-traditional education (which are the schools that do not fall into any category). After evaluating the data proportioned by CRE (Center for Education Reform) the results are that charter schools offer more special and alternative programs while public schools offer a traditional education program.
Charter schools do not offer gifted and talented programs while some of the public schools do. One possible reason for this, mentioned in the journal, is because regular schools have more physical space to create an extra classroom as needed. Charter schools work with a smaller group of students and adjust their schedule at convenience to meet the educational goals in contrast to public schools that follow calendars and schedules assigned by the district. Regarding the legislative objective of teacher’s participation or influence in these schools, it is shown that their influence is more profound in charter schools rather than regular schools. Charter school teachers have total control over classroom rules and discipline, educational curriculum, and the exact way of teaching while utilizing different educational approaches.
Lastly, Charter school principals have more control over the school administration and operational departments because they have less intervention from the state than public schools do because public schools are subjected to strict regulations. In summary, the results of the data evaluated demonstrate that charter schools on a national level provide more educational options, teacher participation, and autonomy over the educational system that public schools. However, the academic achievement of the student does not depend entirely on implementing these legislative objectives.
Charter schools promote parental participation. Parents are more satisfied when values, discipline, and behavior are a part of their children’s education.
