Students in Kansas charter schools tested about the same on reading and math tests this spring as the average Kansas student.
And that's good, one school official said, because many charter school students are considered challenging.
"We think that they are doing a very good job of making progress," said Diane DeBacker, the Kansas State Department of Education's director of school improvement and accreditation.
Charter schools are publicly financed and exempt from many rules and regulations, a factor advocates say encourages educational innovation. In Lawrence, the new Virtual School is the only charter school.
More than 60 percent of charter school fifth-graders tested proficient or above in reading, as did nearly 80 percent of charter school eighth-graders and about half of charter school 11th-graders.
More than 70 percent of charter school fourth-graders tested proficient or above in math, as did about 70 percent of seventh-graders and about half of 10th-graders.
The state average is composed of traditional-public school students and charter school students.
A charter program operates within a traditional public school. Test scores of students in charter programs are not included in charter school test scores.
About 1,800 students attended 25 charter schools or programs during the 2003-2004 school year. More than half of those schools or programs teach only high school students.
About 10 of the state's charter schools and programs last year aimed to educate problematic students. Such students include those considered at risk to drop out of school or who "previously have not found success in public or private school settings."
Charter schools and programs have the freedom to be more creative than traditional public schools, DeBacker said.
In a traditional school, "Lots of times teachers want to do something new but say, 'Oh, I don't know if my principal who's been here for 20 years would approve,'" she said. "In a school where it's actually encouraged that you teach in a more creative manner, it kind of opens some doors."
But like traditional public schools, charter schools must meet adequate yearly progress guidelines of the No Child Left Behind act.
About 2,000 students attend 27 Kansas charter schools or programs this school year.
About 165 of those students are enrolled in the Lawrence Virtual School, a first-year charter school that offers online courses, making it attractive to families who home-school their children.
The school has drawn about 135 more students than expected. Principal Gary Lewis has said phones were ringing off the hook at the enrollment deadline in August.
Lewis was not available for comment Friday.
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