ALLIANCE RESPONDS TO SCHOTT REPORT ON BLACK MALE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
July 24, 2008
Chicago IL. – A report to be released Friday (July 25) by the Schott Foundation for Public Education at the Unity ’08 Convention in Chicago reveals that public schools “fail to educate” more than one-half of Black males in America.
However, a significant exception to this sobering report is recent evidence that public charter schools – including several in the Chicago area – are succeeding where traditional schools have failed.
“Attending a charter high school in Chicago increases a Black student’s chance of graduating from high school and enrolling in college,” according to one of four studies summarized in “The Color of Success: Black Student Achievement in Public Charter Schools,” released by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools earlier this month.
The report is available here.
In Chicago alone, four public charter schools are among several that have been outstanding successes in helping to improve academic performance among young Black male students. (For more information, reporters may contact school officials listed below.)
Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men. Chicago’s first and only public charter high school for young men opened in 2006 and has a student body which is 100% African-American male. Urban Prep boasts a 94% retention rate and a 92% daily attendance rate. In their first year, students showed significant gains on standardized tests, raising the average composite scores, when compared with the district, from the 35th percentile to 74th percentile.
Contact: Tim King, Founder & CEO
(312) 276-0259 www.urbanprep.org
Chicago International Charter School - Longwood Campus (Longwood). Approximately 98% of Longwood students are Black, and 84% qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program. On the Illinois Standardized Achievement Test, 90% of elementary and junior high school students met or exceeded state standards in reading and 74% met or exceeded standards in science.
Contact: Robert Lang, Director of Schools at (773) 239-5350 or
Dr. Andrea Brown-Thirston, Chief Academic Officer (312) 651-5000
http://www.chicagointl.org/
North Lawndale College Prep (NLCP). 100% of NLCP graduates for years 2002 - 2007 were accepted to at least one college or university - with many of these students the first in their family to go to college. 90% of NLCP seniors graduate, and 90% of those graduates go on to college. Three-quarters of NLCP alumni are still enrolled or have already earned college degrees.
Contact: John Horan, President
(773) 542-6766 ext. 404
http://www.nlcphs.org/
Perspectives Charter School - Rodney D. Joslin Campus (formerly South Loop). The Perspectives flagship campus has graduated 225 students since 2000, and 78% of the last three graduating classes are still in college, ranking Perspectives fourth out of 77 non-selective public schools in Chicago. More than 90% of 2007 graduates started college last fall and 100% of this year’s graduates have been accepted to two or four-year colleges.
Contact: Traci Wright, Principal
(312) 604-2176, twright@perspectivescs.org
http://www.perspectivescs.org/
About Public Charter Schools
Nationally, public charter schools enroll a higher percentage of minority students (60% vs. 46%) and low-income students (52% vs. 40%) than traditional public schools. More than 4,300 public charter schools teach 1.2 million public school students in 40 states and Washington D.C.
Charter schools are public schools with unique traits that increase the likelihood of academic success for a child. They have increased flexibility to adapt to the educational needs of individual children, and operate within a multi-tiered accountability system that leads to quality schools and high achievement. Parents elect to send their children to charters, and teachers choose to work in them.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. The Alliance works to increase the number of high performing charter schools available to all families, particularly low-income and minority families who currently do not have access to quality public schools. The Alliance provides assistance to state charter school associations and resource centers, develops and advocates for improved public policies, and serves as the united voice for this large and diverse movement.
Download:
0723_Final_Schott_Foundation_Release.pdf (78.8 KB)
Public Charter Schools in Chicago and Other Cities are Succeeding Where Traditional Schools Fail
(Note to editors and reporters: In light of the Schott Foundation report to be released Friday, July 25, the National Alliance for Pubic Charter Schools has prepared the following information concerning African-American male student achievement in public charter schools.)Chicago IL. – A report to be released Friday (July 25) by the Schott Foundation for Public Education at the Unity ’08 Convention in Chicago reveals that public schools “fail to educate” more than one-half of Black males in America.
However, a significant exception to this sobering report is recent evidence that public charter schools – including several in the Chicago area – are succeeding where traditional schools have failed.
“Attending a charter high school in Chicago increases a Black student’s chance of graduating from high school and enrolling in college,” according to one of four studies summarized in “The Color of Success: Black Student Achievement in Public Charter Schools,” released by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools earlier this month.
The report is available here.
In Chicago alone, four public charter schools are among several that have been outstanding successes in helping to improve academic performance among young Black male students. (For more information, reporters may contact school officials listed below.)
Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men. Chicago’s first and only public charter high school for young men opened in 2006 and has a student body which is 100% African-American male. Urban Prep boasts a 94% retention rate and a 92% daily attendance rate. In their first year, students showed significant gains on standardized tests, raising the average composite scores, when compared with the district, from the 35th percentile to 74th percentile.
Contact: Tim King, Founder & CEO
(312) 276-0259 www.urbanprep.org
Chicago International Charter School - Longwood Campus (Longwood). Approximately 98% of Longwood students are Black, and 84% qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program. On the Illinois Standardized Achievement Test, 90% of elementary and junior high school students met or exceeded state standards in reading and 74% met or exceeded standards in science.
Contact: Robert Lang, Director of Schools at (773) 239-5350 or
Dr. Andrea Brown-Thirston, Chief Academic Officer (312) 651-5000
http://www.chicagointl.org/
North Lawndale College Prep (NLCP). 100% of NLCP graduates for years 2002 - 2007 were accepted to at least one college or university - with many of these students the first in their family to go to college. 90% of NLCP seniors graduate, and 90% of those graduates go on to college. Three-quarters of NLCP alumni are still enrolled or have already earned college degrees.
Contact: John Horan, President
(773) 542-6766 ext. 404
http://www.nlcphs.org/
Perspectives Charter School - Rodney D. Joslin Campus (formerly South Loop). The Perspectives flagship campus has graduated 225 students since 2000, and 78% of the last three graduating classes are still in college, ranking Perspectives fourth out of 77 non-selective public schools in Chicago. More than 90% of 2007 graduates started college last fall and 100% of this year’s graduates have been accepted to two or four-year colleges.
Contact: Traci Wright, Principal
(312) 604-2176, twright@perspectivescs.org
http://www.perspectivescs.org/
About Public Charter Schools
Nationally, public charter schools enroll a higher percentage of minority students (60% vs. 46%) and low-income students (52% vs. 40%) than traditional public schools. More than 4,300 public charter schools teach 1.2 million public school students in 40 states and Washington D.C.
Charter schools are public schools with unique traits that increase the likelihood of academic success for a child. They have increased flexibility to adapt to the educational needs of individual children, and operate within a multi-tiered accountability system that leads to quality schools and high achievement. Parents elect to send their children to charters, and teachers choose to work in them.
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The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. The Alliance works to increase the number of high performing charter schools available to all families, particularly low-income and minority families who currently do not have access to quality public schools. The Alliance provides assistance to state charter school associations and resource centers, develops and advocates for improved public policies, and serves as the united voice for this large and diverse movement.
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