Colorado Here We Come!

I just received the Colorado Charter Association newsletter and thought I’d share some good news. As you may or may not know, we are set to open in Parker Colorado in August of 2018. Our Principal, Jason Edwards, moved his family to our Marana campus to spend a year learning the Leman Academy system.  We couldn’t be more proud of Jason and his vision for the future campus. The Board of Directors in Colorado have put together a solid plan, the facilities are on track to be ready, the teachers have been hired and our enrollment is exceeding their projections. We are here to serve the Colorado team in any way we can.

Colorado…here comes Leman Academy of Excellence.

Colorado Charter Schools Hit Another Great Performance Milestone

In April, the 2017 scores were released on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Colorado charter schools performed exceptionally well on what is frequently called “The Nation’s Report Card.” These results demonstrate the remarkable contribution that charter schools are making to public education in the state of Colorado.

Collectively, Colorado charter schools outperformed non-charter public schools by a significant margin. As shown below, the 2017 NAEP scores allow us to compare charter public schools with non-charter public schools in four subjects and grade levels:

• In 8th grade Reading, charter schools achieved an average score of 281 compared to 269 for non-charter public schools.
• In 8th grade Math, charter schools achieved an average score of 297 compared to 285 for non-charter public schools.
• In 4th grade Reading, charter schools achieved an average score of 233 compared to 224 for non-charter public schools.
• In 4th grade Math, charter schools achieved an average score of 247 compared to 240 for non-charter public schools.

As these scores indicate, charter schools outperformed non-charter public schools by a significant margin in all four tested subjects and grades.

Jason Edwards, Leman Parker Principal and his family.

As a collective, Colorado charter schools also performed very well relative to the other 24 states with large charter sectors. Specifically:

• In 8th grade Reading, Colorado tied for 1st ranking with one other state, Idaho.
• In 8th grade Math, Colorado charter schools ranked 2nd among all states with charter sectors.
• In 4th grade Reading, Colorado tied for 3rd ranking with three other states, Delaware, Idaho and Massachusetts.
• In 4th grade Math, Colorado tied for 4th ranking with one other state, Nevada.

When the rankings across all four tested subjects and grades are averaged, only one other state outperformed Colorado. Idaho, which has a charter sector one-sixth the size of Colorado, performed the best in the nation among states with significant size charter sectors.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the NAEP is “the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students know and can do in various subject areas.” The NAEP is particularly authoritative because it has been administered continuously since the 1970’s and is not subject to the same ever-changing trends in standards, curricula and testing as other assessments. As we complete the 2017-18 year, our state’s charter school educators should be very proud of their accomplishments!