CREDO at Stanford University finds students who attend Indianapolis charter schools and IPS Innovation Network Schools achieve significant academic growth

CREDO’s study also finds that in 2016-2017, charter schools and IPS Innovation Network Schools provided superior learning gains for black and low-income students relative to traditional public schools within IPS

Indianapolis – (January 17, 2019) – Today, Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) released findings that, on average, Indianapolis charter schools and Indianapolis Public Schools’ (IPS) Innovation Network Schools are providing students with significant learning gains relative to traditional public schools within IPS (IPS TPS).

“Together, the achievement gains in Indianapolis charter schools and Innovation Network Schools confirm the promise of empowering talented educators in exchange for rigorous accountability,” said Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit. “These findings also contribute to the growing body of evidence supporting IPS leadership’s bold strategy of partnering with Indianapolis’ charter school sector to create Innovation Network Schools.”

CREDO’s findings for 2016-2017 include:

• Indianapolis charter school students achieved growth equivalent to 77 days of additional learning in English Language Arts (ELA) and 100 days of additional learning in math relative to students in IPS TPS.
• Students in IPS Innovation Network Schools achieved growth equivalent to 53 days of additional learning in ELA and 89 days of additional learning in math relative to students in IPS TPS.
• Students in charter schools and Innovation Network Schools achieved similar gains in both ELA and math relative to the state average, while students in IPS TPS achieved significantly less growth relative to the state.

“Indianapolis is the first of ten cities CREDO will be sharing results for over the upcoming weeks. The findings for this work are particularly useful for stakeholders to compare city-to-city where similar work is being conducted,” said Margaret Raymond, Director of CREDO at Stanford University.

CREDO is an independent institute at Stanford University that produces rigorous, non-partisan research and evaluation on education. The report, titled 2019 City Study: Indianapolis, evaluates school performance in public schools located within the boundaries of IPS over four years, analyzing annual growth between the 2013-2014 school year and the 2016-2017 school year.

The Mind Trust has supported the creation of 24 charter schools and Innovation Network Schools in Indianapolis. In partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation and IPS, The Mind Trust has supported the launch of 18 of the 20 Innovation Network Schools in IPS.

CREDO’s study also finds that in 2016-2017, charter schools provided superior learning gains for black students and low-income students and especially strong learning gains for hispanic students and English language learners.

• Black students in Indianapolis charter schools achieved growth equivalent to 65 days of additional learning in ELA and 83 days of additional learning in math relative to Black students in IPS TPS.
• Low-income students in Indianapolis charter schools achieved growth equivalent to 71 days of additional learning in ELA and 94 days of additional learning in math relative to low-income students in IPS TPS.
• Hispanic students in Indianapolis charter schools achieved growth equivalent to 100 days of additional learning in ELA and 94 days of additional learning in math IPS TPS.
• English language learners in Indianapolis charter schools achieved growth equivalent to 130 days of additional learning in ELA and 106 days of additional learning in math relative to English language learners in IPS TPS.

While this report is the first academic study on the performance of Innovation Network Schools, CREDO has previously released four studies on charter school performance in Indianapolis. Each study has found positive impacts for students who attend Indianapolis’ charter schools relative to their traditional public school peers.

The most recent study, 2015 Urban Charter School Study: Report on 41 Regions, found that Indianapolis charter school students achieved growth equivalent to 46 days of additional learning in ELA and 40 days of additional learning in math relative to their TPS peers.

While Indianapolis charter schools outperformed their TPS peers, CREDO’s 2015 study found that about one-third of the 41 regions studied had charter sectors that had smaller learning gains than their traditional public school peers.

About The Mind Trust

The Mind Trust is an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit that works to build a system of schools that gives every student in Indianapolis, no exceptions, access to a high-quality education. The Mind Trust does this by building a supportive environment for schools through policy and community engagement, empowering talented educators to launch new schools, and providing existing schools with the supports they need to hire world-class talent and achieve excellence. More information can be found at themindtrust.org.

About CREDO

CREDO at Stanford University CREDO at Stanford University produces rigorous, non-partisan research and evaluation to enhance the body of empirical evidence, driving education policy decisions toward improved education outcomes for all students. http://credo.stanford.edu/

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