The New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association recently announced that Compass Academy Charter School in Vineland landed in the top 1.0 percent of the state in calculations of how students grew year-over-year relative to peers statewide in math, according to the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) annual School Performance Reports released on April 3. The reports include assessment, student growth, and accountability data for all public-school districts in New Jersey.
When evaluating student growth in mathematics, six of the top 10 highest growth districts statewide are public charter schools, despite charter schools serving less than 5.0 percent of the public-school population. In reading, four of the top 10 highest growth districts are public charters.
Other public charter schools in the top 10 list include ones located in Newark, Trenton, Paterson, Jersey City, East Orange, and New Brunswick.
“These incredible results are a true testament to how public charter schools meet students where they are. Through personalizing instruction and targeting learning gaps for every child, they have achieved some of the best student learning gains in the State,” said Harry Lee, president and CEO of the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association.
The released data shows that public charter schools are accelerating learning for students faster for Black, Latino and economically disadvantaged students compared to the rest of the state. For Black students, seven of the top 10 districts in math growth and three of the top 10 districts in reading growth are charters. For Latino students, four of the top 10 districts in reading growth and five of the top 10 districts in math growth are public charter schools. For economically disadvantaged students, 10 of the top 15 districts in math growth and six out of the top 10 districts in reading growth are public charter schools.
