Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Jennifer Sabol
Abstract
Charter schools have been gaining acceptance all over the country and their impact on college
acceptance rates in urban areas is on the rise. Charter schools are emphasizing the need for a
college education and that is clearly reflecting in the growing numbers of high school students
attending college. The difference between charter schools and public schools has been outlined
in the following paper and highlighted are the areas that affect the success of charter schools.
The location, participation, and influence of charter schools support the hypothesis that Charter
schools increase the college acceptance rates in urban areas. Results from research show that
charter schools are located in urban areas due to the needs of students as well as resources in the
area. Parent involvement is one area where charter schools are changing the game. With more
parents involved students are more successful and charter schools are working with their parents
to get them involved. The results of the research show that charter schools do in fact promote
higher college acceptance rates and that in the country college attendance is higher than it has
College has become a necessity to claiming a job that will provide students with the
preferred monetary status as well as the social status that is desired by young adults entering the
work force. Sixty-two percent of jobs in today’s workforce require a two-year or four-year
degree, and is projected to rise to seventy-five percent in 2020 (Gordon, 2009). In today’s world,
the cars people drive, the phones they talk on and the colleges that they attend are what shape
peoples opinions about who they are, and what they are capable of. For many high school
students it is very important to them what their family, friends, and peers think about them. They
want to be successful, rich and highly social, as well as have a good job and plenty of free time
to enjoy in the leisure that comes with this lifestyle. Drop out rates are at an all time low at eight
percent, which means that more and more people are entering the work force better prepared
(NCES, 2010). One problem that may end their dreams of living such a life is the prospect of
going to a well-known college. For students that live in urban areas it seems it is much more
difficult for them to obtain placement into one of these desired institutions. They face many
more challenges than students who live in the suburbs or wealthy areas of the city. Because they
come from families with less money, lower levels of education, and less privilege, their chances
of achieving their preferred lifestyle become precariously low. A light at the end of a very dark
tunnel may be the insurgence of Charter schools in these areas, which offer students a better
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 4
Charter schools were first introduced in 1991 and were seen as a breath of fresh
air from public schools. In 1993 California opened their first charter school and now there are
over 700 in the state. (“US Charter Schools,” n.d.) Charter schools get paid by the state based on
student attendance just like public schools do, however they don’t have that restrictions that
public schools have. Charter schools differ from public school in three areas: Accountability,
Choice, and Autonomy (“ECHS online,” 2010). This means that charter schools do indeed take
money away from public schools and pits them against each other. Charter schools also have the
choice to accept students or to deny them acceptance to their schools, this gives them an
advantage because they tend to have students that are more determined to learn and apply
themselves in school. Autonomy allows charter schools to focus on teaching their students and
striving for excellence instead of meeting state requirements and following procedures. Charter
schools focus on having a mission and to have students strive to accomplish something, some
schools focus strictly on college and others focus of certain areas of study. The purpose of the
paper is to see if Charter schools improve the college acceptance rates in urban areas. This paper
will bring to light why charter schools are more prevalent in urban areas, discuss what makes
charter schools more successful, and highlight the rise of college acceptance rates all across the
United States. This research will lead to the answer of whether charter schools are more
beneficial to students in urban areas than public schools when it comes to farthing their
education.
Charter schools tend to be opened in urban areas with lower income levels and higher
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 5
minority percentages, nationally 55 percent are located in cities, 22 percent in suburban areas, 8
percent in towns, and 15 percent in rural areas (“Fast Facts,” 2010). This opens up the
possibilities that are available to students in areas that lack competent schools. For some
students it opens a door to more opportunities to get into a better college, for others it offers
areas of concentration that some schools do not have. In 1996 professor Ray Budde talked about
the evolution of the Charter concept. Dealing with failing schools in his district he worked on
chartering new programs and instead came to charter new schools. Charter schools are seen as a
new option for school districts that are losing students. Chartering schools gave everyone
connected to education another option. School boards were not inclined to change based on the
altruistic or idealistic reasons but for other reasons, such as the loss of students and with them
funding (Budde 1996). Charter schools were sprouting up in areas that needed them because
public school systems were not changing to accommodate the new needs that were arising in the
1990’s.
Similarly In a study done by Witte, Schlomer, and Shober (2007) they looked at how
charter schools affected the school districts in Wisconsin. This study showed how charter
schools tended to be located in areas with lower levels of income and higher minority levels.
The main focus of the study was how it affected the school districts in Wisconsin and if it made
open enrollment more available in public schools. Schlomer et al. (2007) discussed the
demographics of districts that contained charter schools and districts that didn’t. In charter
schools districts the percentage of minority levels was at 26 percent compared to the non-charter
schools with 6 percent. The free lunch numbers were about the same in both charter and non-
charter districts with 22 percent of its students participation. The federal revenue percentages
were slightly higher for charter districts with 5.59 percent than the non-charter district at 4.73
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 6
This study’s hypotheses wanted to prove that charter schools opened in districts with
more poor students, and in districts with more non-white student populations. The way that
Schlomer et al. (2007) was to prove these hypotheses was to study the demographics of the areas
and districts with charter schools. In the research from the study it was very clear that in
Wisconsin, areas populated with higher rates of poverty, and non-white populations tended to
support going charter. The study further confirmed that districts with many open seats tended to
open a charter school to bring students back to their district and to fill those seats. The students
bring money to whichever school they attend; to be more competitive school districts had to
The conclusion of this study was that the insurgence of charter schools promoted a
higher level of competition between students in Wisconsin. For public schools to compete with
charter schools they had to start offering open enrollment and this gave students many options in
The movement involving charter schools is a positive prospect for urban areas. Students,
parents, and teachers can all benefit from the rise of charter schools and their popularity. The
change that charter schools bring will motivate public schools to modify and recondition their
approach to teaching due the high numbers of students leaving traditional public schools to
attend charter schools. Based on the Statistics from the Center of Education Reform (2010)
1,729,963 students are currently enrolled in Charter schools in the United States. In California
there are over six million students attending school, out of those there are 285,617 students
attending charter schools, (CDE, 2009) and in 2010 there are 348,686 students attending charter
schools (NCSES). In 2000-2001 only 115,390 students were enrolled in charter schools, with
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 7
numbers tripling over ten years it seems that charter schools are doing something right (CDE,
2001). The thing is that anyone person can choose to start a charter school. Teachers or
administrators often start charter schools. They are fed up with the public school system and
want to improve their work environments. Based on Book that was written by the U.S.
gives you an easy to read and understand guideline on how to start your own successful charter
school (2004). It is interesting to see what the Department of education tells the charter schools
to do when they often lose site of the same info in public schools because of politics. Initially all
you need to have in order to start a charter school is a location, funding for teachers and staff,
and students. Charter schools in Los Angeles, CA have been backed by important people like
Oscar De LaHoya, or have themes like environmental studies, or Science academies. This
makes the school more appealing to students and parents that can help keep enrollment numbers
Charter schools are seen as an alternative to public schools in urban areas. Students in
urban areas do not have the luxury or privileges that wealthy school districts employ, their
endless amounts of parent involvement, resources, and highly regarded teachers. Partnerships
between schools, families, and community organizations are vital to supporting student success
(Bryan & Griffin, 2010). Parent involvement has been proven to support a student’s growth and
status areas have less likely chance of continuing their education from high school (APA,
Morgan, Farkas, Hillemeier, & Maczuga, 2009). Charter schools operate differently than public
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 8
schools; they make parent involvement mandatory, which in some cases promotes the excellence
of students. Many studies show that parent involvement is paramount to a student’s success.
Charter schools are seen to have an advantage over public schools systems because they can
choose who attends their schools and demand parent involvement. Charter schools promote
more parent involvement than public schools do through their request of at least one hour a
month in school participation. One resource that improves parent involvement is the school
counselor; they work with both parents and teachers to get the channels of communication
flowing. School counselors can take actions to increase parental involvement, which contains
parent workshops, making the school a non-threatening atmosphere, and to make parents aware
of what is required to help their students raise achievement levels (Walker et al., 2010).
In a recent study done by Smith and Wohlstetter (2009) they discuss parent involvement
in urban charter schools. In most cases more parent involvement is seen to improve not only the
students academics but also help out the community. This study shows that there is a correlation
between parent involvement and school performance. With higher rates of parent involvement
comes higher test schools and academic achievement. One theory that Smith and Wohlstetter
(2009) discuss is that because parents actively choose to send their students to a charter school
that they will ultimately be more involved. In some ways this is true but the authors of the study
look into many aspects of why parents fail to be involved in their child’s school. One aspect
discussed is the cultural barrier that prevents minority parents from being involved; another
aspect is clarity on what parental involvement requires. Some parents are not aware of what is
expected of them and can be intimidated by the schools faculty and previous experiences with
schools.
Charter schools are working on a new way to obtain parental involvement in urban areas.
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 9
Smith and Wohlstetter (2009) use the Epstein’s Model of School, Family, and Community
Partnerships to relate how parents observe and participate in their child’s life.
Collaborating with the community (2004). Most of the charter schools in the study found they
had to adjust the ways that they interacted with the parents to see results. Due to the struggles
that parents from urban areas face, parents had unforeseen problems which hindered their ability
to fulfill involvement number three Volunteering. To help charter schools offered “wrap
around” services which enabled families to get to school on time, and have food, clothing and
other necessities provided to them and to work with the parents schedules (Smith & Wohlstetter,
2009). Charter schools have a better understanding with their parents when it comes to
involvement number five, decision making. School personnel like the principal and directors
make parents partners in decisions regarding the school. This allows parents at charter schools
to be more involved because they have a say in what is decided unlike public schools. Public
schools have school boards that make the major decisions for their districts. “Schools boards are
competition, and adaptation are common.” (Weeks, 2002). The results of the study showed that
parents in urban areas were more involved in the charter schools than public schools because the
charter schools made the necessary changes and accommodation needed to work with the parents
and their schedules. There are many ways that schools can increases their parent involvement,
mainly by engaging the parents and making them equal partners in their child’s education
Studies have shown that students that attend a charter school tend to be more inspired to
attend college and continue their education. In Chicago, the graduation rate for African-
American boys is at about 40 percent, and the chances of these students making it to college is
about half (Paulson, 2010). However, one inner city charter school in Chicago made up of young
African-American men had all 107 students receive acceptance to a four-year college (Paulson,
2010). In a study done on high school students in Florida and Chicago who attended a charter
high school Booker, Sass, Gill, and Zimmer (2010) reported a higher percentage of students who
received a diploma and who attended college after high school. Because the amount of students
who have attended a charter high school has not been too great the amount of research on the
subject is very minimal. The subject is still in the infancy stage and the amount of information
supporting it is still being researched. However, with the study done by Booker et al. (2010)
their findings were in favor of charter schools and the effect that they have on the futures of their
students.
Many factors were taken into consideration during Booker’s et al.’s (2010) study and all
were disproved on their affects on the outcome of data. One interesting factor that could
influence the reasons that charter schools seem to produce more college interest was academic
achievement. In charter schools it is believed that the achievement is higher then at the public
schools however, in Florida and Chicago, there was not a significant difference in the
achievement levels. In the study there was a bigger significance between public and catholic
schools but that was to be expected. Second, the factor of charter schools being smaller in size
would give them more of an advantage, but as with the achievement it showed no significant
results. Finally, in this study many of the schools in Florida were conversion schools and started
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 11
out as public schools. This could be seen as a problem because the previous ideas and
motivations of the school could still be lingering and change the dynamic of the charter school.
This could offset the data but results showed that there was no significant difference between
conversion charter schools and new charter schools. Conversion charter schools were also seen
in Wisconsin in urban areas. With the disproof of certain factors that may of changed the results
of this study, Booker et al.’s (2010) results were positive and proved that charter schools
Statistics from the IES national center for educational statistics for 2010 showed that
there has been a large increase in undergraduate enrollment in college. This growth has been on
an incline from 1995 and the increase of students that are attending charter schools is also on an
increase. Deputy commissioner Stuart Kerachsky (2010) reported that college enrollment is on
the rise and stated “The immediate college enrollment rates of high school completers from low-
income families trail the rates of those from high-income families, though the gap, which was 41
percentage points in 1972, has narrowed to 25 percentage points in 2008.” (para. 18) The
correlation between college enrollment and charter schools has not been addressed, however
In a newspaper article written in the Daily Breeze, Douglas Morino (2010) addressed the
achievements of a local charter high school that participated in the Inaugural race to the top
commencement challenge. Although the school did not win President Barack Obama’s presence
at their graduation commencement, the article outlined the highlights of the schools other
achievements. Environmental charter high school has over a 95 percent college acceptance rate,
with a focus on environmentally focused, project based curriculum model, with an emphasis on
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 12
college after high school (Morino, 2010). ECHS requires all students to apply to college before
they graduate. ECHS had a 0.6 percent drop out rate in 2009, which was largely due in part to the
schools counseling department (Palmer, 2010). The schools counseling department works with
students so that they do not fall thorough the cracks and fail out of high school. ECHS is located
in Lawndale, CA which resides in the Centinela Valley school district which at 40 percent has
one of the highest drop out rates in the Los Angeles school district, L.A. county has a 24.3
percent drop out rate (Palmer, 2010). The Environmental charter high school has beat the odds
and is sending most of their students to college, the school is made up of 87 percent minority
students (Morino, 2010). This is another example of a charter high school in an urban area that
has given students the opportunity to choose to extend their education and gain acceptance to
college.
Conclusion
Charter schools pride themselves on their mission statements; many promote college
interest and fulfillment. When students promote from middle school to a charter high school
they become aware of the Mission of the new school that they are attending. Public and Charter
schools outline the goals and desires of their students and what is expected of them. Many
public and charter schools mission statements made it clear that there was a difference. Most of
the charter schools expressed college acceptance and interest in their mission statements, but
most public schools didn’t express those interests in their statements. Charter schools located in
urban areas make it clear that the influence that they have on their students to promote to college
is higher than at public schools. There are many factors that influence this and some of them are
parent and community involvement, growth of schools, and the characteristics of charter schools.
Based on the research that was reviewed previously, charter schools are more abundant in urban
INFLUENCE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS ON COLLEGE 13
areas due to unmet needs of the students. This is beneficial to students in those areas because it
offers an opportunity to students who are interested in college and extended learning. Also,
parent involvement was seen to increase in charter schools, which was a product of the different
way that charter schools worked with their parents. Charter schools promoted a closer
relationship between parents, students and school. Many Charter schools and public schools are
requiring their students to do community service before they graduate making students more
involved in their communities. This and parent involvement will continue to raise achievement
Charter schools in urban areas are gaining momentum and the promise that they will gain
students access into college is a heavy one. Public schools are becoming more competitive and
having to offer open enrollment to keep their seats filled and the federal funds coming in.
Competition is healthy for our schools and will spark innovation and promote change where
needed. Charter schools are indeed influencing college acceptance rates, however with the lack
of longitudinal data it makes proving it difficult. Charter schools are sparking the interest in
students that lack the luxuries of funding and support that public schools in non-urban areas
thrive on. Charter schools are looking like the solution for high poverty areas that wish to move
out of the shadows and into the fast lane of education. The future of education is changing
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