Nearly half of the more than 40 charter schools Ball State authorizes are up for renewal of charter this March, a process which comes on the heels of a study questioning the success of the university’s charter schools.
A December article published in the Indianapolis Star cited a study conducted by Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, which placed Indiana fifth-best in the 23 states and cities examined, a good rating that should have been better, the center’s director Margaret Raymond said.
“Charter performance would be even better were it not for the very poor test results of a handful of charter schools opened in the past four years under the sponsorship of Ball State University,” she told the Indianapolis Star.
John Jacobson, dean of the Teachers College, explained that the main purpose of a charter school was to allow for experimental education to try new teaching practices and curriculum where some of the state accountability and rules would be relaxed.
In order to become a charter school in Indiana, the institution must gain a charter authorizer.
All universities are eligible to become authorizers, as well as the state of Indiana and the Indianapolis mayor.
Jacobson said there were some schools that were falling well below Ball State standards, but there are several factors that indicate whether a school is successful or not.
A particular school may be falling below the state average, however, the traditional schools in the same area are often falling below the state average as well, Jacobson said. Parent choice and student safety must also be taken into account.
An education management organizations, or EMO, is an organization or corporation that runs charter schools and decides management, curriculum and teaching practices, Jacobson said.
“I would say most of [Ball State’s] charter schools are struggling in one way or another, and the majority of them are run by these large EMO’s,” Jacobson said. “We as authorizers don’t tell the school how to operate, or who to hire to teach or administrate. We don’t even require a particular curriculum.”
Robert Marra, executive director of the Office of Charter Schools, said some of the schools under review this March are underperforming, even falling under the 15 percentile in Indiana.
“In some of the cases, yeah, they are outperforming, and in a couple of them they are not. Those may be set up for closure or non renewal,” Marra said. “That was part of the bargain of charter schools in the first place.”
He said Ball State does have some schools that are at the top of the list as well, and the university is looking to strengthen those schools while looking to attract better, more stable charters in the future.
“One of the issues you always want to look at is the application,” Marra said. “We have added more rigor. In fact of the nine schools that applied this semester, none of them passed. The best way to make sure we have quality schools is to make sure they are opening with the highest quality.”
Ball State is tasked with offering oversight that allows these schools to provide superior education and opportunities, a task which Jacobson believes has been handled better in the past few years.
Most of those on the board of charter as well as the director are somewhat new to their positions, which Jacobson sees as a positive aspect, allowing change to take place to strengthen the future of Ball State’s authorizations.
“BSU is really taking authorizing seriously, and in the past couple years we have gotten a whole lot better,” Jacobson said. “I want to become the very best.”
