Urban Charter Schools Demographics in ARIZONA March 2015

Introduction The is a report on urban charter schools in major cities in Arizona Urban charter schools are at the forefront of public education and on-going efforts to create better outcomes for students. Many urban charter schools have a specific mission to target and serve students with the greatest educational disadvantages, either by virtue of family background or poor prior instruction. Others got their start as a way to deal with rapid urban growth that axed the capacities of local districts to provide buildings and staff to meet growing demand. CREDO studied the attributes of students and schools in Mesa, Phoenix & Tucson.

Introduction Five criteria were used to select which urban communities to study; full details are in the Technical Appendix. CREDO developed a narrow definition of “urban” to select schools for this study. The aim was to choose schools that were within the joint boundaries of cities and school districts. Multiple sources are used to develop boundaries for “urban regions,” including NCES locale codes, school addresses, and school district information. More detailed information is included in the Technical Appendix for the study. Student & School Counts are derived from student test data.

Research Questions This study answers the following questions: What does the urban public education landscape look in Arizona? How do the student attributes in urban charter schools differ from their traditional public school (TPS) counterparts? Does the level of achievement differ between students in charter schools and TPS in their same cities? Given the mission of some charter operators to target disadvantaged students, do we see proof they do so?

Overview of Public Charter Schools in ARIZONA

AZ Student Demographics Statewide Demographic Trends by Location – All TPS Students Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Core of Common Data 2011

AZ Student Demographics Statewide Demographic Trends by Location – All Charter Students Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Core of Common Data 2011

TPS Market Share Over Time Statewide Demographic Trends by Location – All TPS Students Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Core of Common Data 2011

Charter Market Share Over Time Statewide Demographic Trends by Location – All Charter Students Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Core of Common Data 2011

TPS Growth Rates Statewide Demographic Trends by Location – All TPS Students Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Core of Common Data 2011

Charter School Growth Rates Statewide Demographic Trends by Location – All Charter Students Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Core of Common Data 2011

AZ Student Demographics Aggregate Statistics for Students in Cities Selected for Study

AZ Student Demographics Aggregate Statistics for Students in Cities Selected for Study

AZ Student Demographics Aggregate Statistics for Students in Cities Selected for Study

AZ Student Demographics Aggregate Statistics for Students in Cities Selected for Study

Comparison of Achievement Scores for Charter Schools and TPS

Achievement Scores Because charter schools may not be located in all parts of a city, they may not have the array of students and academic talent that exists across the larger number of schools in the greater public education school district. To show these relationships, we first present the community-wide average results for math and reading, as revealed via statewide testing regimes. The results are then parsed to show the results for TPS and charter schools in each region.

Urban Achievement Regional Average Math Achievement Score by Type of School for Mesa, Phoenix & Tucson Compared to State Average Math Achievement

Urban Achievement Weighted Average Math Achievement Score of Mesa, Phoenix & Tucson Compared to State Average Math Achievement

Urban Achievement Regional Average Reading Achievement Score by Type of School for Mesa, Phoenix & Tucson Compared to State Average Math Achievement

Urban Achievement Weighted Average Reading Achievement Score of Mesa, phoenix & Tucson Compared to State Average Math Achievement

Mesa Demographics

Regional Enrollment Trends by Year Mesa Student Counts by Sector and by Year

Where Do Urban Students Come From? Locale of school previously attended by students transferring to Mesa Charter Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Mesa Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Mesa Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Demographics in Mesa Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Demographics in Mesa Schools

Phoenix Demographics

Regional Enrollment Trends by Year Phoenix Student Counts by Sector and by Year

Where Do Urban Students Come From? Locale of school previously attended by students transferring to Phoenix Charter Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Phoenix Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Phoenix Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Demographics in Phoenix Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Demographics in Phoenix Schools

Tucson Demographics

Regional Enrollment Trends by Year Tucson Student Counts by Sector and by Year

Where Do Urban Students Come From? Locale of school previously attended by students transferring to Tucson Charter Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Tucson Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Tucson Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Tucson Schools

Regional Urban Student Demographics Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Tucson Schools