1. Urban Charter Schools Demographics in CALIFORNIA March 2015

2. Introduction
The is a report on urban charter schools in major cities in California
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 the Bay Area, Central California, Southern California and South Bay.

3. 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.

4. Research Questions This study answers the following questions:
What does the urban public education landscape look in California?
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?

5. Overview of Public Charter Schools in CALIFORNIA

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. CA Student Demographics
Aggregate Statistics for Students in Cities Selected for Study

13. CA Student Demographics
Aggregate Statistics for Students in Cities Selected for Study

14. CA Student Demographics
Aggregate Statistics for Students in Cities Selected for Study

15. CA Student Demographics
Aggregate Statistics for Students in Cities Selected for Study

16. Comparison of Achievement Scores for Charter Schools and TPS

17. 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.

18. Urban Achievement
Regional Average Math Achievement Score by Type of School for the Bay Area, Central CA, Southern CA and South Bay Compared to State Average Math Achievement

19. Urban Achievement
Weighted Average Math Achievement Score of the Bay Area, Central CA, Southern CA and South Bay Compared to State Average Math Achievement

20. Urban Achievement
Regional Average Reading Achievement Score by Type of School for the Bay Area, Central CA, Southern CA and South Bay Compared to State Average Reading Achievement

21. Urban Achievement
Weighted Average Reading Achievement Score of the Bay Area, Central CA, Southern CA and South Bay Compared to State Average Reading Achievement

22. Bay Area Demographics

23. Regional Enrollment Trends by Year
Bay Area Student Counts by Sector and by Year

24. Where Do Urban Students Come From?
Locale of school previously attended by students
transferring to Bay Area Charter Schools

25. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Bay Area Schools

26. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Bay Area Schools

27. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Demographics in Bay Area Schools

28. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Demographics in Bay Area Schools

29. Central California Demographics

30. Regional Enrollment Trends by Year
Central California Student Counts by Sector and by Year

31. Where Do Urban Students Come From?
Locale of school previously attended by students
transferring to Central California Charter Schools

32. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Central California Schools

33. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Central California Schools

34. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Demographics in Central California Schools

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

36. Southern California Demographics

37. Regional Enrollment Trends by Year
Southern California Student Counts by Sector and by Year

38. Where Do Urban Students Come From?
Locale of school previously attended by students
transferring to Southern California Charter Schools

39. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Southern California Schools

40. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Southern California Schools

41. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Southern California Schools

42. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in Southern California Schools

43. South Bay Demographics

44. Regional Enrollment Trends by Year
South Bay Student Counts by Sector and by Year

45. Where Do Urban Students Come From?
Locale of school previously attended by students
transferring to Southern California Charter Schools

46. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in South Bay California Schools

47. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in South Bay California Schools

48. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in South Bay Schools

49. Regional Urban Student Demographics
Regional Enrollment Trends by Race in South Bay Schools