Breaking Down "The Chartered Course: Can Private School Choice Proponents Learn from the Charter...
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THE CHARTERED COURSECan Private School Choice Proponents Learn from the Charter School Sector?
breaking down
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As demand for private school choice grows,
STUDENT PARTICIPATIONIN SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAMS
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
02000
36,000
2005
106,000
2012
212,000
2013
260,000
2014
+314,000
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it’s imperative we examine ways to improve not only the diverse supply of schools but also the quality.
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Charter schools have been experimenting with both for more than two decades and their market share is growing faster than any other school type.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
01999-00
1% 1% 1% 2% 2% 3% 4%
89% 89% 89% 89% 88% 88% 88%
10% 10% 10% 9% 9% 9% 8%
2001-02 2003-04 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10 2011-12
CharterTraditionalPrivate
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Indeed, many charter schools have coupled innovation with best practices from private and public schools with great results.
are low-incomeand
of graduates matriculated
to college
86%
83%are low-income
and
of graduates matriculated
to college
83%
100%are low-income
and
of graduates matriculated
to college
72%
100%
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So what can the private school sector learn from some of the top charter schools?
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Researcher
Andy Smarick
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• a partner at Bellwether Education Partners,
• former Deputy Commissioner of Education of New Jersey and Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education,
• former COO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools,
• hot sauce aficionado,
• and fanatical blues guitarist,
analyzed charter schools to produce this synthesis of best practices.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
To date, there are now about 6,000 charter schools serving nearly 2.3 million students.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
In fact, student enrollment in the charter sector has outpaced enrollment in private schools of choice.
2,400,000
2,000,000
1,600,000
1,200,000
800,000
400,000
02008 2009 2010 2011
Private School Choice EnrollmentCharter Management Organization EnrollmentCharter School Enrollment
Sources: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, “The Public Charter Schools Dashboard: A Comprehensive Data Resource from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools,” accessed Apr. 4, 2014, http://dashboard.publiccharters.org/dashboard/schools/page/mgmt/year/2013; The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, The ABCs of School Choice: The Comprehensive Guide to Every Private School Choice Program in America, 2014 ed. (Indianapolis: Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, 2014), http://www.edchoice.org/ABCs.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
How have top-performing charter schools expanded so quickly to meet the demand of families?
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
Many created Charter Management Organizations (CMOs), which develop new schools, all structured upon a unique educational model, and help those schools operate.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
Students enrolled in schools overseen by CMOs have increased by more than174 percent since 2007.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
What makes CMOs effective?
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
Economies of Scaledef. – the consolidation of support functions for all CMO network schools in one place.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
Single-campus charter schools’ employees must often wear multiple hats, spreading their efforts thin...
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
...whereas CMOs might hire a few specialists that utilize their expertise for multiple schools, ensuring:
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
Back-Office Supportdef. – the freeing up of school principals’ time spent handling recruitment, fundraising, budgeting, data processing, and facilities management so they can spend more time mentoring teachers.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
What’s the most important back-office support?
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
Human Capitaldef. – the process of competing to recruit the best new talent and grooming the top teachers for leadership positions.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
How can CMOs compete with the dominant public school system and
higher union wages for the best potential talent?
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
External Partnershipsdef. – establishing relationships with organizations that cultivate teachers outside the fairly uniform colleges of education.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
Teach For America and TNTP are examples of such organizations.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
But CMOs don’t just recruit and cycle through new teachers as critics claim.They focus significantly on:
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
Internal Investmentsdef. – fostering continuous improvement by providing individualized professional development programs for existing teachers and grooming the best to be principals.
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
The biggest driver of whether we could open more schools—and of how successful those schools went on to be—was the strength of the school leaders.
– Dacia Toll,co-leader of the CMO
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1. How Charter Schools Structure Themselves
We have retained 100 percent of the school leaders who[m] we grew from within the organization, and we’ve retained 40 percent of the ones we brought in from outside.
– Don Shalvey,founder of the CMO
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2. How Charter Schools Identify Where to Open
New Locations
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2. How Charter Schools Identify Where to Open New Locations
A charter school incubator is a nonprofit organization that identifies opportunities for opening new charter schools based on the needs of communities in a specific area.
2. How Charter Schools Identify Where to Open New Locations
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Incubators encourage the growth of the charter school supply in a few ways:
2. How Charter Schools Identify Where to Open New Locations
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1. building relationships with great school leaders and educators to launch and run new charter schools in their area,
2. convincing existing CMOs to open schools in their area, and
3. providing support, such as:
2. How Charter Schools Identify Where to Open New Locations
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Leadership Pipelines def. – a program strategy or service that provides rigorous training for educators by preparing them to become strong future school leaders who can start and run a new, successful school.
2. How Charter Schools Identify Where to Open New Locations
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Start-Up Capital def. – money to pay for new school start-up costs, such as creating leader training programs; purchasing books and materials; and constructing, renovating, or leasing a facility.
2. How Charter Schools Identify Where to Open New Locations
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Strategy Guidancedef. – expert consultation to ensure soon-to-be school leaders know how to: pass school proposals through authorization checkpoints, develop a local governing board, build relationships with communities, plan performance tracking strategies, and otherwise map out key steps toward a successful school launch.
2. How Charter Schools Identify Where to Open New Locations
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Political Advocacy def. – the process of staying up to date on legislative changes that affect the charter school sector, discussing developments with school leaders, educating the public on the effects issues will have on their communities, and advocating for policies that promote the growth of high-quality schools.
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3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold
Themselves Accountable
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3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
A charter school authorizer is responsible for writing and submitting charter contracts typically to the state, and then holding its charter schools accountable for their performance according to the terms of those contracts.
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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That means an authorizer is also responsible for shutting down its charter schools that fail to meet certain performance goals.
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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Authorizers can have few or many schools in their portfolios, and they come in a few forms:
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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LEAs, SEAs, HEIs, NEGs, NFPs, and ICBs
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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Got it?
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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Just kidding.We’ll explain:
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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LEA – a local education agency, which is usually the local district public school board
SEA – a state education agency, which is the state’s department of education
HEI – a higher education institution
NEG – a non-educational government entity, such as a mayor
NFP – a not-for-profit organization
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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Most of those authorizer types serve many other functions, spreading their skills and time thin.
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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Utilizing independent chartering boards (ICBs) as authorizers is one way to ensure greater thought and time are put into planning which metrics schools track, how they’re tracked, and whether they’re successful.
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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ICBs are what we call...
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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Independent Agenciesdef. – an organization run by a staff of experts in accountability models, finance, and other areas with a single purpose—to authorize charter schools.
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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ICBs have practical perks, too.
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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1. They are not dependent upon the political interests of a district board or SEA.
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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2. They can set longer, staggered terms to further insulate themselves from constantly changing political leadership and the personal interests that follow.
3. How Charter Schools Set Goals and Hold Themselves Accountable
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3. They are less inclined to place the task of evaluating charter schools on the back burner for other institutional tasks.
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Conclusions
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The growth of school choice is inevitable, and demand for diverse, high-quality private schooling options is on the rise.
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We’ve got to look for and be willing to test strategies that will expand the supply of private schooling options.
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“The Chartered Course” is one way, but far from the only one, private schools can or should take.
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This report simply aims to open the doors for collaboration between sectors.
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Got different ideas?We’d love to hear them.
Reach out on Twitter @edchoice,on Google+ +edchoiceorg,or on Facebook /edchoice.
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For more details, real life examples, and resources from the charter and private sectors, read the full report atedchoice.org/CharteredCourse.