Are Bad Schools Immortal?
The Scarcity of Turnarounds and Shutdowns in Both Charter and District Sectors
December 14, 2010

by David A. Stuit

Foreword by Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Amber M. Winkler

This study from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute finds that low-performing public schools—both charter and traditional district schools—are stubbornly resistant to significant change. After identifying more than 2,000 low-performing charter and district schools across ten states, analyst David Stuit tracked them from 2003-04 through 2008-09 to determine how many were turned around, shut down, or remained low-performing. Results were generally dismal. Seventy-two percent of the original low-performing charters remained in operation—and remained low-performing—five years later. So did 80 percent of district schools. Read on to learn more—including results from the ten states.

Read full report:
http://www.edexcellence.net/publications-issues/publications/are-bad-schools-immortal.html