Published on: 5/01/06
Opinion
Studies on America's schools appear with the regularity of weather reports, but the forecast is rarely for sunny days to come, only gray skies and storm clouds.
Now, two more research studies rain on the assumption by some that public education can be saved by wresting it from government bureaucrats and handing it over to private, independent operators.
In one study, a federally funded review of the seven biggest education-management firms, operating 350 public schools, found that bringing in private companies to run schools is not a panacea.
After reviewing data from those 350 schools, the American Institutes for Research found that only one of the seven private groups had solid evidence of improved learning. That firm, the for-profit Edison Schools, only rated a "moderate" grade for its effect on achievement. (In Georgia, Edison operates Atlanta's Charles R. Drew Charter School.)
Those findings come on the heels of another study that found Philadelphia math students in privatized middle schools don't fare any better than their peers in publicly managed schools. The state of Pennsylvania took over the troubled Philadelphia schools in late 2001, creating a School Reform Commission that delegated management of 46 schools to independent contractors, including 26 middle schools. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have tracked the impact of that effort.
"So far, this experiment has not paid off by producing consistently better math achievement gains in the privatized schools," concluded Douglas J. Mac Iver and Martha Abele Mac Iver.
The researchers did find evidence that Philadelphia's overall reform effort has edged up student performance. The commission standardized curriculum, overhauled high school courses and replaced some middle schools with k-8 schools. The system also launched full-day kindergarten, expanded early-childhood programs and overhauled teacher training.
The lesson may be that schools can get better with concerted effort, but the most important changes are those made in the classroom, not in management.
— Maureen Downey, for the editorial board
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