Florida charter school students are out-scoring and out-gaining their traditional public school counterparts in more than 150 comparisons on the state’s standardized tests, according to a state-mandated report released by the Florida Department of Education Thursday.

In 156 of 177 comparisons, charter school students scored higher, made bigger gains and had smaller achievement gaps.

The department compared the two sectors by looking at students overall, and by comparing white, black, Hispanic, high-poverty and disabled students, as well as English language learners. It broke down results into elementary, middle and high school categories.

The state based its analysis on more than three million scores from last year's reading, math and science FCAT tests and Algebra I end-of-course exam. Only students who attended traditional public schools or charter schools for the entire year were included. The report did not break down results by district.

Charters did particularly well with low-income middle schoolers. In reading, 55.6 percent of FRL kids in charter middle schools scored at grade level or above, compared to 45.8 percent for their traditional school peers. In math, the corresponding percentages were 54.8 and 44.5.

DOE press release here. Initial coverage from Gradebook and South Florida Sun Sentinel.

They’re one of the first things people notice when they walk inside the new Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa.

Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School

Windows, everywhere.

Inside the 67,000-square-foot renovated building, light pours in through an expansive curved entryway, between the cafeteria and lush outdoor dining area, inside classrooms and even along the second-floor hallway, where students can peer down into the giant gymnasium.

Compared to the charter school’s first digs, a cramped old Circuit City it leased for five years, “this is such a change of environment,’’ said Principal Kristine Bennett.

For its new home, the school’s foundation spent $15 million outfitting a former church with 20 classrooms, two computer labs and a media center. There’s a cafeteria with a LED-powered vending machine offering gluten-free snacks, and a full-sized gym featuring one wall with a painting of a fiery red and orange Phoenix – the school’s mascot.

The striking makeover is fitting for a student body that has undergone its own metamorphosis.

Three years ago, the state gave Brooks DeBartolo a “D’’ grade for academic performance. The school, which garnered a “C’’ the year before, faced losing its charter.

One of the school’s founders and financial backers, Derrick Brooks, the legendary former linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, vowed his namesake school would work harder. And it did. The next year, it scored six points higher than the state required for an A grade.

Derrick Brooks

Today, students are attending an “A’’ school for – hopefully, say administrators – the third year in a row. (more…)