CHARTER KIDS DO BETTER HARVARD STUDY COMPARES STUDENTS FROM SAME NEIGHBORHOOD.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

Charter school students in California and around the nation are more proficient in reading and math than students at nearby traditional public schools with similar demographic makeups, a new Harvard University study has found.

Surveying states that enroll 99 percent of elementary students who attend charter schools, researchers found that California charter schools in operation for six or more years had proficiency gains that were nearly twice as great as those at nearby public schools.

In a report on the study, author Caroline Hoxby concluded that charter schools ``are especially likely to raise the achievement of students who are poor or Hispanic.''

``Charter schools tend to arise in areas where students are disadvantaged and families have had little ability to exit underperforming schools,'' said Hoxby, a Harvard professor of economics. ``Sure enough, charter schools make the most difference with such students.''

The report released this week contrasts with results from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, which found that fourth-graders in charter schools were performing about half a year behind students in traditional public schools.

Hoxby questioned an American Federation of Teachers study that was based on the NAEP results. She said her report was based on nearly all fourth-grade charter students, while the NAEP results relied on just a 3 percent sample of students.

The Harvard study was also based on comparisons of fourth-graders.

``The evidence continues to mount that charter schools are our most promising path to the genuine reform of public education,'' said Gary Larson, spokesman for the California Charter Schools Association, the state membership and professional organization that serves more than 500 public charter schools.

Los Angeles Unified School District board member Julie Korenstein said she had not seen the Harvard report but was not surprised that established charter schools were showing strong gains.

She said former LAUSD schools that converted to charters started with a ``very strong staff of teachers and, usually, exemplary principals.'' But she said charter school performance varies tremendously, and independent charter startups might not be as successful because the teachers and administrators often lack experience.

In the Harvard study, a charter school is compared with one that its students would most likely attend if the charter school closed. Researchers found that students attending a California charter school were 8.5 percent more likely to be proficient in reading and 5.0 percent more likely in math than students attending a nearby public school.

``This is the first time they've actually taken the neighborhoods and the economic conditions these kids come from into consideration,'' Larson said. ``By and large, California charter schools are taking in students who have not had access to good public schools and getting them on the road to success.''

Pupils at California charter schools that have been in operation for at least six years were 11.8 percent more likely to be proficient in reading and 12.2 percent more likely in math than students who attended a nearby public school, according to the Harvard report.

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com