Last week, I posted a list of high performing and low performing low-income schools in English and Math. One of the most interesting comments came from Heather from Camino Nuevo:
I’d encourage you to consider “K-8” schools performance in middle school. For Example, Camino Nuevo Academy #2 would definitely make the top 5 of the list if you looked at their middle school scores. There is power in K-8 education.
So, is there power in K-8 education?
Looking at overall performance, there is some validity to what Heather suggested. Again, I am looking at the median score of low-income schools:
Non-traditional spans (K-8 and 5-8) definitely outperform the traditional elementary schools or middle schools.
Not only does it hold true, but it holds true across charter schools and traditional schools.
Interestingly, this difference in performance actually accounts for the majority of the success of charter schools in Los Angeles. Without the non-traditional spans, charter schools barely outperform traditional schools.
Charter schools run a majority of these non-traditional spans. In fact, they run 100% of the 5-8 span schools (Mostly KIPP schools). Compare that to only 10% of traditional elementary schools run by charters.
Now for the ironic part.
Remember how this topic was suggested by someone affiliated with Camino Nuevo Charter Academy? Well, Camino Nuevo runs four K-8 Schools and they are very inconsistent compared to the charter network (Celerity) that runs K-8 schools. I have highlighted Camino’s schools in the lists below in orange.
Camino Nuevo #2 may be relatively high performing, but Camino Nuevo #3 is performing worse than the median K-5 school. And Camino #1 isn’t doing much better.
Celerity, on the other hand, seem to have pretty consistent success with the K-8 model. (Even if they pay their CEO $470,000). I think it is also important to mention Gabriella Charter, which is at the top of K-8 schools for both Math and English.
Still, overall, K-8 schools have very promising data.
But let’s take a step back from the data, and let me put a little opinion in here: Middle School is a Rite of Passage. Middle School has a special place in the American Psyche. Again, this is just my opinion, but kids who don’t get to go to a “middle school” are missing out on a very important experience that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
I question whether the solution to low-performing middle schools is to turn them into combo schools. The solution is to make those middle schools better. That way, students can get the middle school experience and education they deserve.