Student achievement gains eroded amid shift to “social justice” education
BOSTON – After years during which too many charter public schools turned away from the rigorous academic practices that made them the nation’s most successful urban education reform, the sector should return to the proven model that closed achievement gaps, according to a new “Charter School Toolkit” published by Pioneer Institute.
The case for renewal begins with a clear record of success: examining student outcomes in 29 states, Washington, D.C., and New York City between 2015 and 2019, Stanford University’s Center for Research on Educational Outcomes found that some 200 charter networks were closing or even reversing longstanding achievement gaps in reading, math or both.
“These charter school networks dramatically outperformed the urban districts their students would have attended, are less expensive to operate, and can scale without limit,” said Steven F. Wilson, who authored the Toolkit.
In recent years too many urban charters retreated from academic rigor. Newly minted teachers called for “social justice” education that braided political teachings into every lesson and regarded many of the networks’ distinctive practices—disciplined classrooms, rigorous curricula, and an extended school day a year—as “symptoms of white supremacist culture.” Teachers were asked to function as much as therapists as educators, as the belief was that before students could learn schools had to engage the trauma students and teachers carried from living in a racist society.