Octorara Administration Office 228 HIGHLAND ROAD, SUITE 1, ATGLEN, PA. 19310-1603, Phone: (610) 593-8238 @ Fax: (610) 593-6425 @ www.octorara.k12.pa.us ‘Thomas L. Newcome Il, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools To: Board Directors From: Tom Newcome Date: March 12, 2012 Re: Publie Charter School Handout From Lorraine C. Harmer, MLD ‘Attached js the document that Ms. Lorraine C. Harmer gave to the Board last month. You may remember that she came forward during the public comment period in the meeting of February 19, 2012 and indicated she had a document for your review. However, she had only one copy. ‘Therefore, we received her copy and assured her that it would be reviewed and it would be made. an agenda item this month. I recommend that it be discussed by the Board Directors under “Other Items/€oncerns” on the agenda. Ms. Bowman will state that each Board Director received a copy of the document'and will ask if there is any discussion. Ms. Harmer may make any comments related to the document during the “Public Comment” period at either end of the agenda. I will inform her of how we.will proceed. The Board Directors may respond to or answer any questions Ms. Harmer may have either during the “Other Items/Concerns” agenda item or during “Board Comments” at the end of the meeting. ‘The remainder of this document is my response to her document: Thave taken the liberty to place page numbers om Ms, Harmer’s document for easier reference. First, itis refreshing to have a resident come forward with passion to discuss a topic related to academics. Ms. Harmer has provided data and information that is not to be refuted which Webster defines as “to prove to be false or erroneous.” Her data is neither false nor erroneous. She writes from a position of knowledge as defined by Webster as “the fact ot condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association.” Therefore, 1 respect her sincere perspective and encourage all to consider her knowledge as legitimate and an honest representation of her research. Knowledge is, however, also defined by Webster as “the range of one’s information or understanding” and as such leaves knowledge to be something that is not completed but is ever growing. So, while the data and the honesty with which Ms. Harmer presents her materials is not something I question I would like to add to the “knowledge” as part of an “honest” conversation, Since Ms. Harmer is highlighting my statement that “the data is not showing they are better”, I feel compelled to discuss “data” briefly and not assume that one views data as I do, Data is the plural of the word “datum”. Datum as defined by Webster is “something given or admitted especially as a basis for reasoning or inference” and “factual material used as a basis especially for discussion or decision.” Datum is commonly thought of as something to do with numbers. But one is able to see that by definition this is not always true. It is how “datum” is most recognized. However, there are many datum that are not numbers but are pieces of “knowledge”. 1Ms, Harmer’s data is largely numbers but one can see from her report that she utilized comments taken from Board Minutes and explanations and citations from various websites as datum. | will not presume to make assumptions from her collection of datum and I will take her at her word when she writes that her “intent is to inform and educate, with the outcome of creating a platform for informed, honest dialogue.” I, as well as the Board of Directors, have been trying to inform through honest dialogue. This dialogue is done publicly and has the accountability measure of publie scrutiny built into it ‘There are published minutes of the monthly Board meetings with comments which ~¢ posted on ‘a public website. These minutes are far more detailed than most public meeting minutes — especially for school board meetings. They are not exact word-for-word reviews but they are fairly detailed. There are at any given meeting three reporters that report on the same dialogue as ‘a point of additional accountability. There are public comment times at the posted public meetings of the Board of Directors. A forum for informed, honest dialogue is not new to the Board of Directors for the Octorara Area School District. The facts (data) cited in this paragraph allow a reasonable inference that informed, honest dialogue is nurtured in the Board of Directors’ meeting format. Page One ~ Cover Page ‘The title of the document supports what I have been saying for several months. It reads, A Compilation of Knowledge On Area Public and Charter Schools. Missing from this title is the ‘word “Traditional” in front of the word “Public” and the word “Public” in front of the word “Charter”, In my opinion, the title of this document should read, A Compilation of Knowledge On Area Traditional Public Schools and Public Charter Schools. “Public Charter Schools” are publicly funded schools. That is the point I have been driving home for several months. It is informed and honest dialogue to point this out. The consistent omission of this by politicians, public charter school advocates and the public in general speaks to the need to educate as part of an honest dialogue. Many people never get past the headlines or the titles of documents. Those that market products understand this. We need to advocate that the marketing of “knowledge” does not omit this point. I also understand that when we market something we are open to the same scrutiny and we need to be prepared to accept this and respond appropriately. Ms, Bowman is quoted on the cover page as follows, “It is important that we have honest conversations and understand all the issues involved.” I know Ms. Bowman stands by this comment. Quite possibly the only dialogue at the local level in a public format, with built-in accountability for the words being said, has been at the public meetings held by the Octorara Area School District Board of Directors. Honest conversation does not mean that everyone will agree, Honest conversation may lead to varying interpretations of the same data. Honest conversations may inerease the knowledge of one or both parties in the conversation. Honest conversation may lead to new interpretations or perspectives on familiar data Page Two ~ Performance Outcomes Ms. Harmer provides Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) data in a chart following a quote of mine from the Board minutes. This chart is a list of the number of students from three public schools that took the SAT and the average scores for these students in verbal, math and writing. These schools include Octorara Area High School, 21" Century Cyber Charter School and Avon Grove arter School. On the surface this single set of data would refute the quote cited in Ms. eHarmer’s paper. “Dr. Newcome said when we look at comparisons between public and private schools it is important to remember that we bear the cost of the new private school ~ the public cyber and public charter schools. These schools make a claim that they are better than the traditional public school, but data is not showing they are better.” In the spirit of informed, honest dialogue one may ask what data is missing that would allow for a more complete understanding of the raw numbers? My own background in mathematics and my study of statistics, leadership, marketing and various other pursuits makes me hesitant to just take numbers in a chart and believe I have a complete story. So, here is a brief list of data points that could be included in the honest dialogue: 1. What portion of test score is attributed to previous educational experiences? Where did students attend school prior to taking SAT? For how long? For which courses? 2. How many Octorara Area School District students are in the tested population from the public charter schools? What is the socio-economic background of the tested populations? What is the family educational background in each population? What is the parent involvement coefficient? Is there a statistical factor by which we can expect parents with the propensity to send their children to altemate schools to expect an increase in scores? What additional factor might this be? 6. Does the data presented tell us whether the population in attendance at the public charter schools is lar to the traditional public school listed? 7. Is there a predictability of how these students would score at any other school? Is the school the difference or is the population at the school the difference? 8. What is the Chester County Average for SAT scores compared to the public charter schools? Since each of the public charter schools listed on the chart are a compilation of multiple school districts would this not be a better measuring stick? These schools pull from a wide area — not just Octorara. 9. Are there any restrictions on who takes the SAT from a given school? Many private schools restrict which students take sueh tests to assure higher scores? 10, Is there an SAT prep course at any of the schools listed? 11, What is the average over time? Are these scores a trend or an anomaly? 12. What is the retention rate of the school population? Traditional public schools must take all residents that register. Public charter schools have entrance criteria and cut offs. Where do students go that are not successful at public charter schools — back to traditional public schools. 13. Given that the public charter schools require redundant public funding ~ funding beyond the previous expenditures for public schools - what increase in a test score is evidence that the tax payer is getting a better product? Is there a coefficient for this? For Octorara tax payers there is an expenditure of at least $1.5 million to support the addition of public charter schools. What increase in test scores on the SAT is evidence that they are outperforming the traditional public school? 14, What type of post secondary options are available for graduates identified in the chart? 15. How many students had SAT scores that made it into the college of their choice? Did other factors determine the enrollment into college? yay This is just my short list — there are many other data questions that are acceptable in an honest dialogue — but let us not believe that the placement of a few charts of raw numbers makes for an 3