ORLANDO--With almost 500 charter schools now operating in the United States compared to one six years ago, the issue made it onto the agenda for the annual conference of the American Association of School Administrators several times. The only problem is that no study yet says if they work and how well.

The first major study of charters, released by the U.S. Department of Education Friday, provided only basic information. Altogether 26 states have passed charter laws, although some are so new that charter schools have not yet opened in them. Of the 480 charter schools, more than one-half are in only two states--Arizona (164) and California (109).

The new study also revealed that charters tend to be small with an average of only 200 students. They attract large proportions of minority and/or low-income students.

Charter schools apparently are appealing to parents "who believe regular public schools are not serving their children well," said Joseph Schneider, AASA deputy executive director. He also noted that a major reason people want to start charters is to get out from under school district regulation, "so there must be a lot of frustrated principals out there, too," he said.

Schneider and Marcella Dianda, senior program associate for the National Education Association, analyzed about 15 other studies of charter schools so far and found the same general information. What they did not find, however, according to Dianda, is how much students are learning in charters, what kind of learning, how charters affect public schools, or the overall impact of the movement.

A survey of administrators attending the conference found that about half of the respondents do not believe charters will make a contribution to education and slightly less than that think they will be a detractor. Only 9 percent believe charters will benefit education.