Giving Compass' Take:

• Matt Barnum at Chalkbeat writes upon a recent Federal report that found little connection between charter middle school quality (as measured by test scores) and college outcomes.

• What will reports like this mean for the future of charter schools? Is it harder for middle schools, as opposed to high schools, to make a difference in students’ college trajectories?

• Here's an article questioning if its time to remake middle school. 

Attending a sought-after charter middle school didn’t increase a student’s chance of attending or graduating college, a new U.S. Department of Education study showed.

“The overall conclusion that there is little difference between charter schools and non-charter schools is not shocking to me,” said Sarah Cohodes, a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College. She pointed to prior research showing charters perform comparably to district schools nearby.

Cohodes said that while the study’s use of random lotteries allowed it to convincingly establish cause and effect, it looked at a relatively small sample of 31 schools, only three of which served predominantly low-income students.

Still, the results are a disappointing data point for charter advocates who hoped the publicly funded, privately run schools would improve students’ college prospects.

Read the full article about charter middle schools and college degrees by Matt Barnum at Chalkbeat.