Indiana State Board Of Education Releases First Formal Evaluation Of Charter School Performance At April Business Meeting

Last updated on Thursday, April 5, 2018

(INDIANAPOLIS) - The Indiana State Board of Education (SBOE) released the first formal evaluation of the overall state of charter school outcomes in Indiana.

Beginning in 2016, state law requires the Board to issue this formal evaluation every five years.

This formal evaluation focuses on three main sections:

Charter School Enrollment - Explores total charter school enrollment throughout Indiana, and the demographics of students in charter schools compared to school corporations with the greatest number of students enrolled in charter schools.
Charter School Performance - Analysis of school letter grades and student performance on standardized assessments, including proficiency and growth, of charter schools compared to students in school corporations with the greatest number of students enrolled in charter schools.
Charter School Funding - Compares state funding for charter schools compared to school corporations with the greatest number of students enrolled in charter schools.

Key findings from the evaluation include:

Nearly 85% of charter school students live within a district that has a higher percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced price meals than the state average
A greater percentage of charter schools receive A's, and fewer receive D's and F's compared to like-traditional public schools
In FY17, brick-and-mortar charter schools received $1,203 less per-pupil than the like-traditional public schools in this study.

The final report can be found can be found here.

The Board also considered Choice Scholarship waivers for two schools. The Board voted to deny granting Choice Scholarship waivers for Independence Academy as well as Faith Academy. The Board determined that these schools did not provide evidence that a majority of the school's students demonstrated academic improvement during the preceding school year.

Additionally, the Board voted 9-2 to initiate the procurement process to identify vendors that could serve as Special Management Teams if the Board chose to assign that intervention under IC 20-31-9-4.

The Board considered and approved a guidance document for Graduation Pathways by a vote of 10-1. The guidance document provides a framework for the creation, submission and approval of Locally Created Pathways. More information on the Locally Created Pathways as well as the process for Application and the Application timeline can be found here.

The Board also reviewed and approved the CTE state plan by a vote of 11-0.. More information regarding the Indiana Department of Education's CTE Plan can be found here.

Finally, the Board voted 11-0 to initiate rulemaking process to amend Indiana's diploma and the alternate diploma (511 IAC 6-7.1) as the existing administrative rules need to be updated to account for changes necessitated by the adoption of P.L. 192-2018. The Board did not approve any language at this meeting, it merely granted the Board staff permission to begin the rulemaking process.

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