Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) at ASU
Education and the Public Interest Center (EPIC) at CU-Boulder
****NEWS RELEASE--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****
NEW REPORT GRADES THE GRADERS
Contact: Wendy Chi -- (734) 678-5196; [wendy.chi@colorado.edu]
Kevin Welner -- (303) 492-8370; [kevin.welner@gmail.com]
TEMPE, Ariz and BOULDER, Colo. (February 12, 2008) - States across the nation were just given grades, as part of the latest ranking of charter school laws. This new report card is not, however, the type to hide in the garbage or post on the refrigerator. Two University of Colorado researchers assigned the grades to make a point. They wanted to expose the uneven standards behind a wave of school choice report cards issued in recent years by think tanks.
"When a think tank issues a report giving a state's charter school law a grade of 'D,' what does that mean?" asks Wendy Chi, the article's lead author. "What did they look at to decide if the law was good or bad?"
Chi and University of Colorado at Boulder professor Kevin Welner analyzed six different approaches that had been used in the past to rank, grade, or evaluate charter school laws. They found that these rankings depended on the grader's subjective values and standards. "The problem," Welner explains, "is that these reports are trying to hide those subjective values and beliefs, which are often politically motivated, behind seemingly objective grades or ranks."
The report explains that think tanks have used grades and rankings to make easily understood arguments and to gain influence in policy debates. "Newspapers are more likely to pass along a report's claims when those claims are boiled down to grades," says Chi.
For their own grading system, Chi and Welner reasoned that states' laws should be rewarded when they further the initial goals promoted by advocates of the charter school movement, such as curricular and instructional innovation, increased access to opportunities for at-risk students, and increased student achievement.
"Success should be measured by the arguments that originally convinced states to adopt the policies," said Chi. She and Welner pieced together available information on each state and calculated own rankings. But they are careful to note the limitations.
"How does one really judge a law's strength in promoting innovation, for instance?" said Chi. "Our rankings would be of little use to a person who cares more about creating a wide-open marketplace than about ensuring that charter schools serve at-risk student populations." Welner hopes that "the next time a report is issued with state-by-state grades, readers ask three simple questions:
* What are these grades based on?
* What are the underlying values and beliefs that generated those grading criteria?
* Do I agree with those values and beliefs?"
"Rankings are most worthwhile when readers understand the values, interests, and perspectives of the authors," says Welner.
The article, "Charter Ranking Roulette: An Analysis of Reports That Grade States' Charter School Laws," appears in the February edition of the peer-reviewed "American Journal of Education," and it is available at http://epicpolicy.org/publication/charter-ranking-roulette.
CONTACT:
Wendy Chi
Doctoral Candidate
University of Colorado at Boulder
(734) 678-5196
wendy.chi@colorado.edu
Kevin Welner, Professor and Director
Education and the Public Interest Center
University of Colorado at Boulder
(303) 492-8370
kevin.welner@gmail.com
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The Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) conducts original research, provides independent analyses of research and policy documents, and facilitates educational innovation. EPRU facilitates the work of leading academic experts in a variety of disciplines to help inform the public debate about education policy issues.
Visit the EPRU website at http://educationanalysis.org
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The Education and the Public Interest Center (EPIC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder seeks to contribute information, analysis, and insight to further democratic deliberation regarding educational policy formation and implementation.
Visit the EPIC website at http://education.colorado.edu/epic
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