CHARTER SCHOOLS MAY BE FAILING; STUDY FINDS NO EVIDENCE REALITY MATCHES BOASTS.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

Charter schools in California have not kept their promise of greater accountability because they have no consistent measurement of student achievement, according to a UCLA study whose results were released Thursday.

The study of 17 charter schools showed they, in the absence of a statewide assessment system, have no way to show whether their students are doing better, according to the report. The schools neither show how they'll measure student performance nor clearly define their goals, the report says.

``We have broad claims that don't match reality,'' said Amy Stuart Wells, an associate professor of education at UCLA who was principal investigator for the report, ``Beyond the Rhetoric.''

The report also says that charter schools have too much control over who attends them, rely too heavily on private outside funding and are not being required to reflect the racial-ethnic mix of their districts.

Investigators in the 2-1/2-year study, believed to be the most in-depth of its kind, examined charter schools from 10 urban, suburban and rural districts throughout the state. No school was identified in the report for privacy reasons, but campuses from Southern California were included, Wells said.

Created by a group of teachers, parents or other community residents, a charter school is free of most state laws and regulations. An agreement, or charter, outlines its goals and procedures. The aim is to improve learning by encouraging different teaching methods without the constraints of traditional rules and structure.

Charter school advocates rejected the report's findings that their campuses are not held accountable for student achievement. They said students in charter schools, as in all California public schools, must take the Stanford 9 Achievement Test, a nationally standardized exam. And, they said, charter schools must show improved student performance or face closure.

``Only charter schools are held to that high standard,'' said Irene Sumida, co-director of Fenton Avenue Charter School in Lake View Terrace, the nation's largest public charter school for children from prekindergarten through fifth grade.

Since the charter movement started in 1991, nearly 800 such schools have opened nationwide, including 156 in California. There are nine charters that cover 30 schools inside territory of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

One LAUSD official said changes in the statewide tests - from the California Tests of Basic Skills to two different versions of the Stanford 9 - have made annual comparisons difficult. Schools can be held accountable more readily if their student achievement goals are detailed and precise, said Kathy Swank, administrative coordinator of charter schools for the LAUSD.