Boston charter schools appeared well poised two years ago for a dramatic rebound in academic performance when classrooms reopened after the pandemic shutdown. The schools long ago earned a national reputation for working magic with academically struggling students from low-income households, propelling them to the top of MCAS exams and on to college.Behind their success was strong reliance on the same techniques researchers are now pushing districts nationwide to adopt for a post-pandemic recovery: longer school days and years, high-dose tutoring, and a laser-like focus on each student’s academic needs.
But a quick turnaround remains elusive. Nearly all of Boston’s 15 independently run charters are struggling to boost MCAS scores, which tumbled dramatically during the pandemic, and are grappling with high rates of student absences, according to a Globe review.
As schools across Massachusetts try to get academic achievement back on track, the challenges confronting Boston charters reveal that the most effective interventions will go only so far for schools largely serving low-income students, like Boston charters do, even when they had previously been high performing.
“Everybody around the state should be paying attention to this,” said Thomas Kane, an economist with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who has been tracking the recovery nationwide. “How we respond will have implications for future economic inequality.”
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