In light of recent research by Sean Reardon and associates at Stanford's Center for
Education Policy Analysis that achievement / opportunity
gaps are due primarily to differences that
occur before third grade, it is significant that school effectiveness can move the needle at the third - grade level.
The
gap grows significantly between kindergarten and fifth grade: 46 % of the growth
occurs because charter schools are less likely to classify students as special
education, and more likely to declassify them; 54 % is due to the number of new general
education students enrolling in charter schools, not from the number of students with special needs going down.