Updated 12/19 11:15 a.m.
When the exclusions and exceptions the state grants charter schools are stripped away, Texas charter schools have an average graduation rate almost 30 percentage points lower than the state鈥檚 traditional school districts.
According to a from the Texas Education Agency, just 62 percent of Texas charter school students graduated on time in 2016, compared to more than 90 percent of students from traditional school districts.
The discrepancy doesn鈥檛 show up on campus or district level accountability reports, however, because most charter schools with low graduation rates are rated under alternative standards or have high numbers of students excluded from the graduation count.
But it鈥檚 a statistic the Intercultural Development Research Association believes Texas should be paying attention to. The San Antonio-based research and advocacy group last week highlighting the difference in graduation rates.
- READ | Four-year graduation rate for charter schools versus traditional schools
鈥淎 90 percent versus a 62 percent graduation rate 鈥� it鈥檚 huge. That鈥檚 incredible because charter schools are seen as these kind of rescue schools,鈥� said David Hinojosa, program director for IDRA. 鈥淵et, then when you look at the outcomes for these charter schools and this diversion of resources towards charter schools they鈥檙e not paying off.鈥�
IDRA鈥檚 calculation includes the graduation rates of all charter schools, including those that have asked the state to be rated under alternative standards. , schools can ask to be measured under alternative standards if most of their students are classified as at risk of dropping out of school. About 22 percent of Texas charter schools are rated under alternative standards.
Hinojosa said looking at the graduation rates of all charter schools 鈥渙ffers a fair comparison鈥� because the statewide percentage of charter school students Texas considers at risk of dropping out is about the same as the rate of at-risk students in traditional school districts: a little more than 50 percent.
- READ | 2015 graduation rates separated by types of charter schools
鈥淥ften times the narrative is 鈥榳ell, charter schools are performing worse than traditional public schools but that鈥檚 because they鈥檙e educating more students at at-risk circumstances.鈥� And our analysis showed that that wasn鈥檛 true: that those levels are very close. But when you look at overall outcomes for charter schools, they鈥檙e graduating far fewer students,鈥� Hinojosa said.
Bruce Marchand, director of growth and development with the Texas Charter School Association, disagreed. He thinks a comparison of graduation rates should only include charter schools rated under standard accountability measures.
鈥淐harters serve more of these challenging students,鈥� Marchand said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you can鈥檛 lump them together.
鈥淚 guess we could look at all kids lumped together and kind of draw some conclusions, but again I think the conclusions that are drawn, are not 鈥� they don鈥檛 accurately portray the quality of charter education.鈥�
, charter schools rated under normal accountability measures had a graduation rate of about 95 percent in 2015, but charter schools rated under alternative standards had a graduation rate of less than 50 percent.
To Hinojosa, that鈥檚 unacceptable even if the student attends a charter school specifically for students at risk of dropping out.
鈥淭hose students who don't graduate (regardless of their circumstances) don't get a diploma. And if they don't get a diploma, then their life outcomes will likely show depressed wages, depressed tax contributions, increased chance of relying on state and federal services,鈥� Hinojosa said.
Texas considers a student at risk of dropping out , ranging from failing standardized tests to being on parole.
Camille Phillips can be contacted at Camille@tpr.org or on Twitter:
CORRECTION :The average graduation rate for Texas charter schools in comparison to the state鈥檚 traditional school districts has been updated.
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