More students move between Columbus City Schools and neighboring school districts than move between the district and area charter schools, according to data from Community Research Partners (reported in today’s Columbus Dispatch).
This is sure to come as a surprise to many, given the decade-long cry from Ohio’s school districts about charter schools “stealing” their students (and funding). But it’s no surprise to us at Fordham. Last year, we commissioned a study of student mobility in our hometown of Dayton. Among the many findings:
- Far more students moved among Montgomery County districts, or left the county altogether, than moved between Dayton Public Schools and the city’s charter schools.
- No charter school or district was “creaming” good students. High-performing and low-performing students alike were mobile, and families didn’t appear to be selecting new schools based on the school’s academic performance.
- The greatest indicator of a student’s mobility was his/her score on the state’s third-grade reading test. The lower the score, the more likely the child was to be highly mobile.
Our Dayton study generated much conversation and debate in the city around questions like, “If nearly half of our students will attend several different schools between kindergarten and fifth grade, should we have a city-wide elementary curriculum to provide education stability?” and “How should we develop and amend the state’s school- and teacher-accountability provisions to properly account for the challenges of mobility?”
The findings from our Dayton study led us to launch a statewide student mobility study in the Buckeye State. Toward this end, the data referenced in today’s Dispatch is drawn from the initial work on that study to be conducted by Community Research Partners (CRP). The statewide analysis of student mobility will be out later in 2012. In the meantime, here is what we know about mobility in Columbus, based on CRP’s pilot:
- One of every four Columbus students moved in or out of the district over the past three years (to say nothing of mobility among schools within the district).
- Most students transferred (3,488 times) to or from South-Western City Schools (a growing urban district on the city’s south side).
- More than 2,500 students switched between Columbus City Schools and the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (the state’s largest online school).
The statewide mobility study will go deeper, examining trends for Ohio’s major metro areas and large e-schools, connecting mobility data with data on students’ academic performance and discipline records, and more. We, and the research team at CRP, hope to provide both interesting and informative data along with sound policy recommendations for legislators and state leaders grappling with issues of school funding and accountability, for local education leaders who guide curriculum and instruction, and for parents and community members who want to better understand who attends school where, and why. Stay tuned to Ohio Gadfly Daily for more!
