March 5, 2004
Edison scores a much-needed victory
By Steve Friess | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
LAS VEGAS - It may be too early to write the obituary for
the experiment of using private companies to run public schools.
After years of questions about the effectiveness of their teaching
methods and the recent humiliation of watching the value of
their stock plummet, Edison Schools Inc. enjoyed a much-needed
public relations boost last week when a surge in test scores
for their Las Vegas students showed that private management
of some public schools could be beneficial.
Edison, a New York-based education management company, is
in the third year of a $30-million, five-year contract to manage
six elementary schools and a middle school in disadvantaged
areas for the Clark County, Nev., School District. The elementary
schools reported that their math scores on the Iowa Test of
Basic Skills increased by at least six percentile points in
every grade, with the fourth-graders making a particularly impressive
gain of 12 percentile points, moving from the 30th to the 42nd.
Comparable elementary schools in the district with similar
student profiles also rose, but at a slower pace.
The news comes as an advisory panel of teachers, parents,
and administrators is preparing to consider whether to recommend
that the district continue with Edison. Up until the October
testing period, there was little evidence that the alternative
management program, in which teachers are given a new, highly
regimented curriculum, a host of more advanced technology, and
a longer school day was making much headway.
"We're very encouraged by the news out of Clark County, but
frankly it does not come as a surprise to us," said Adam Tucker,
spokesman for the company that manages about 130 schools in
21 states. "When you look at Edison schools that have been working
with us for an extended period of time - for three, five or
seven years - we're able to show steady and consistent gains."
Clark County School District officials said they continue
to take a wait-and-see attitude, with skeptical school board
trustee Shirley Barber noting that reading and language arts
scores have yet to improve. Still, even Mrs. Barber's criticism
is softening, and Deputy Superintendent Augustin Orci told the
Las Vegas Sun that the results "aren't anything to jump up and
down about, but they aren't anything to throw [Edison] out over,
either."
For her part, Principal Jan Rosenthal of Crestwood Edison
Elementary in Las Vegas is ecstatic about this year's outcome.
Her school performed the best of Clark County's Edison schools,
enjoying a leap of 17 percentile points in fourth-grade math
scores compared with the 2002 results as well as a jump of 14
points in language arts and a three-point increase in reading.
Ms. Rosenthal also raved about the generous teacher training
provided by Edison.
Yet the practice of turning public schools over to a private
corporation remains controversial, with some educators wondering
if the gains are dramatic enough to justify the expense and
the radical changes Edison demands of its schools. Several school
districts, including ones in Dallas and Wichita, Kan., have
opted out of their contracts with Edison - the country's largest
private education management organization (EMO) - after failing
to see significant improvement.
"We don't have any really rigorous evidence in test scores,
but what does exist suggests that EMOs are doing about as well
as public schools," said Columbia University professor Henry
Levin, who studies education privatization. "The assumption
made by people on the [political] right is that the business
sector can do a more efficient job using government resources
than the government can. Up to this point, though, the evidence
isn't all that clear."
Indeed, the Wichita School District abandoned Edison in 2002
in part because the school board decided it could save $500,000
by taking back control over the two schools. Yet even there,
school officials admit they copied some of Edison's more successful
tactics.
Mr. Tucker insisted that much of the controversy over Edison
is now subsiding as test scores rise in many of their schools.
The company recently returned to private status after a freefall
in its stock prices prompted founder Charles Whittle to buy
up outstanding stock.
Still, many are looking ahead to an independent study by the
RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, Calif., examining Edison's
effectiveness.
That study is expected be completed late this year.
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