Download or read book The Charter School Charter Authorizer Relationship written by Christopher J. Timpson and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book An Exploratory Multiple Case Study of the Western United States Charter School Authorizer written by Shaloma Alynca Gray and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The practices and characteristics of charter school authorizers are not well understood, but these entities are responsible for the approval and revocation of charter schools. The phenomena behind the closure of charter schools in relation to charter school authorizers have not been addressed through an exploratory qualitative case study. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory case study was to examine the policies and practices of six charter school authorizers located in the Western United States to understand the differences in policies and practices that either inhibited or enhanced the success of each charter school. Quality authorizing theory, the NASCA standards for quality charter schools, Total Quality Management, and board governance constructs provided the conceptual framework for this study. A list of charter school authorizers with the highest number of school closures, as well as authorizers with the lowest number of school closures was obtained for analysis. Data collection consisted of interviews with reputable charter school leaders. Additionally, minutes of board meetings, board policies and procedures, and field notes were also used to explore the policy environment. Research literature and press articles were also reviewed concerning charter authorizers and their connection with charter school closures, quality authorization, and management practices. The findings revealed that the charter authorizer0́9s policy environment can contribute to the success of charter schools. The transparency of authorizer policies and practices provides insight to help charter operators develop policies and procedures that coincide with the authorizers0́9 oversight.
Download or read book Charter School Authorizers and Oversight written by National Association of Charter School Authorizers and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The basic charter school bargain--freedom in exchange for accountability--presents unique challenges to authorizers. Authorizers must walk a tightrope of sorts, respecting each charter school's independence and distinct mission, while holding every school accountable for educational results and public obligations. Overseeing charter schools is thus a delicate balancing act, which most authorizers must navigate through trial, error and improvisation. To gain perspective on how effective charter school oversight can and should be conducted, the following question was posed to four leaders within the charter school community: "It is a fundamental tenet that charter schools should be held accountable for performance rather than regulated for process. How should authorizers uphold this distinction when conducting charter school oversight?" This brief provides four unique responses to this question and advice and support to authorizers feeling their way through this difficult task. This paper contains the following: (1) Four Guidelines for Charter School Monitoring (Greg Richmond); (2) Regulating for Process: A Response of Unequipped Authorizers (Jim Griffin); (3) Clarity, Quality and Flexibility: Necessities of the Chartering Process (Joe Nathan); and (4) A View from Within: How the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board Effectively Oversees Charter Schools (Jo Baker).
Download or read book Charter Schools and the Law written by Preston Cary Green (III) and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book School s Choice written by Wagma Mommandi and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Access issues are pivotal to almost all charter school tensions and debates. How well are these schools performing? Are they segregating and stratifying? Are they public and democratic? Are they fairly funded? Can apparent successes be scaled up? Answers to all these core questions hinge on how access to charter schools is shaped. This book describes the incentives and pressures on charter schools to restrict access and examines how charters navigate those pressures, explaining access-restricting practices in relation to the ecosystem within which charter schools are created. It also explains how charters have sometimes responded by resisting the pressures and sometimes by surrendering to them. The text presents analyses of 13 different types of practices around access, each of which shapes the school’s enrollment. The authors conclude by offering recommendations for how states and authorizers can address access-related inequities that arise in the charter sector. School’s Choice provides timely information on critical academic and policy issues that will come into play as charter school policy continues to evolve. Book Features: Examines how charter schools control who gains and retains access.Explores policies and practices that undermine equitable admission and encourage opportunity hoarding.Offers a set of policy recommendations at the state and federal level to address access-related issues.
Download or read book California Charter Oversight written by Rebecca E. Blanton and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study was mandated by SB537 (Simitian, Chapter 650, Stats. of 2007, codified at Ed. Code Section 47613), which requires the California Research Bureau (CRB) to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report on the key elements and actual costs of charter school oversight. Charter schools are public schools that are operated by entities other than the traditional school district. They are publicly funded, mandated to accept any student who applies, and cannot discriminate based on race, religion, sex, or geographic location. Charter schools are exempted from significant portions of the California Education Code, but are overseen by charter school authorizers. An authorizer is an entity--most often a school district--that approves the formation of a charter school and regularly reviews its academic and financial performance. Authorizers have the power to close underperforming charter schools. Both authorizers and charter schools receive state funds for their operations. Charter schools educate approximately six percent of all California students. Charter authorizers oversee the performance of these schools and are responsible for ensuring that low-performing schools are either improved or closed. Under the direction of the Legislature, CRB examined the relationship between charter authorizers and charter schools, with a special emphasis on financial arrangements that would increase the opportunity for oversight beyond the legislatively mandated oversight activities. Additionally, the Legislature requested that CRB determine if the current funding formula for charter oversight provides sufficient reimbursement for authorizer activities. Finally, CRB addressed the Legislature's request to review best practices for charter school oversight and make recommendations on improving oversight in California. This report presents four key findings. First, the author and her colleagues found that during their study period, authorizers varied widely in both the services they performed and the amounts they charged charter schools for oversight. While some authorizers reported that petition review accounted for less than $1,000 in costs, other authorizers reported petition reviews costing upwards of $112,500. Second, they uncovered no correlation between activities performed for oversight and cost of oversight among study participants. A majority of the respondents had not adopted guidelines to determine what activities or services should be paid for with money received for charter school oversight. Third, few respondents to their survey reported formally accounting for staff time and costs expended conducting charter school oversight. Hence they are unable to provide the Legislature with a meaningful estimate of the true costs of or sufficiency of funding for authorizers' charter school oversight. They found that authorizers ranged from zero to 17 full-time employees dedicated to oversight. While 61 of the 72 respondents were able to provide an estimate on expenditures to revenue ratios, only 16 authorizers reported accounting for their actual oversight costs. Fourth, they found that, while professionally-accepted standards for charter school oversight have begun to emerge, California charter authorizers vary in their adherence to these standards. Several staff at authorizing agencies CRB staff spoke with stated their agency had to "reinvent the wheel" when it came to establishing oversight practices and standards. While some authorizers utilize established professional standards, others create their own unique forms of oversight. SB537 requires CRB to make policy recommendations about the structure and function of charter school oversight. The lack of good information about the costs and revenues including the use of California Education Code section 47613 funding has limited the author's and her colleagues' ability to provide concrete guidance to the Legislature in some areas. Their recommendations are based on current, professionally-accepted standards in charter school authorization and the results of their survey findings. These are: (1) Make charters or charter petitions available to the public; (2) Improve oversight accounting for authorizer reimbursement funds; (3) Define reimbursable oversight activities under California Education Code section 47613; and (4) Use multiple metrics to evaluate charter school performance. Appended are: (1) Advisory Panel; (2) Charter School Authorizer Survey Tool; (3) State Funding Allotments for Oversight Activity; (4) Significant CA Charter School Legislation; (5) Aligned General Oversight Standards; (6) National Consensus Panel on Charter School Academic Quality/National Consensus Panel on Charter School Operational Quality; (7) NACSA Financial Red Flags; (8) Charter School Transparency Laws; (9) Additional Authorizing Experts; (10) Data Overview; and (11) Works Cited. (Contains 15 tables, 18 figures and 2 equations.) [For "California Charter Oversight: Key Elements and Actual Costs. CRB Briefly Stated," see ED528996.
Download or read book Trends in Charter School Authorizing written by Rebecca Gau and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Supporting Charter School Excellence Through Quality Authorizing written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The National Association of Charter School Authorizers Index of Essential Practices written by National Association of Charter School Authorizers and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Authorizers are as varied as the schools they oversee. Some are responsible for just one charter, while others monitor hundreds of charters serving tens of thousands of students. Some are school districts, while others are independent statewide boards, universities, not-for-profits, or state education agencies. Regardless of their size and type, authorizers must do the important work charged to them by law: deciding which schools should open, monitoring and supporting their progress, and closing those that fail to serve students adequately. There is an emerging consensus on specific authorizer practices that are necessary to do the job well. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) has created and refined "Principles & Standards" that reflect this consensus. Drawing from that, NACSA has crafted a 12-item "Index of Essential Practices" that provides a baseline measure for authorizers. An individual index score (from 0-12) is a diagnostic tool, and can be used to scan the work across the entire sector. The index score communicates to authorizers if they are doing these essential, key pieces of work. This information can then help begin a dialogue about improving practice. Appended are: (1) Methodology; and (2) NACSA Resources for Authorizers. (Contains 4 footnotes.).
Download or read book Independent Charter School Authorizer Task Force Report written by Illinois State Board of Education (1973- ) and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Steadying the Three Legged Stool written by Adam Lowe and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A three-legged stool is always stable, regardless of its placement on an uneven surface. Keeping the top parallel to the floor and comfortable to sit on, however, requires careful steps to achieve balance among each of the three legs. In carrying out their work, authorizers typically work to achieve steadiness in a two-party accountability relationship with a charter school. Introducing a third-party service provider adds complexity to the relationship, but need not destabilize the stool. Indeed, if constructed well, the three parties joined together can form a particularly solid and stable foundation for school success. A well-structured accountability system is the key to a stable trilateral relationship that will foster school success. Nearly 30% of charter schools nationwide receive substantial services--such as whole-school design or comprehensive school management--from external organizations known as education service providers (ESPs). ESPs will continue to play an important role in the growth of the charter school movement, bringing substantial capacities and resources to the schools they serve. At the same time, outsourcing core school functions creates special oversight responsibilities for charter school governing boards as well as for authorizers chartering schools with such contracts. Authorizers must understand these responsibilities in order to create a solid foundation for schools working with service providers. This Issue Brief is a primer for authorizers overseeing contractual relationships between charter schools and ESPs. It will help authorizers understand the benefits that ESPs can bring to charter schools, as well as how to oversee these service relationships effectively. The brief begins by identifying the main types of education service providers serving the charter school market today and various reasons why charter schools contract with these organizations. It then focuses on authorizers' responsibilities in approving and overseeing charter schools that contract with ESPs, offering examples of practices that help authorizers steady the three-legged stool to support and increase school success. (Contains 8 endnotes and 3 resources.).
Download or read book School s Choice written by Wagma Mommandi and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book takes a comprehensive look at the ways in which charters control enrollment and retention in their schools, often limiting equitable access for all students. It critiques the manner in which charters "counsel out" students--frequently English learners, students with special needs, and non-White students--for even minor infractions or poor academic performance, and urges state and federal policy makers to design a more inclusive and equitable charter sector"--
Download or read book Charter Schools and ELLs written by Nancy Clair and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Educators, school administrators, policymakers, and community members are responsible for providing a quality education for all students in the nation's public schools. Traditional and charter schools bear the duty to ensure that special populations of students have access to the best education possible. This responsibility makes it essential for charter school authorizers to not only have knowledge of these diverse student groups, but also to ensure that charter school operators are fulfilling their responsibility of providing quality education for all students. The purpose of this Issue Brief is to provide charter authorizers and school leaders with information about the education of English Language Learners (ELLs), illuminating the legal requirements and sound education practices for these students. This brief will provide authorizers with background information related to ELLs, the state and federal laws that affect the education of ELLs, and the education needs of these children. After reading this brief, authorizers will have a greater understanding of this unique student population and be better prepared to provide oversight to charter schools serving ELLs. (Contains 1 table and 7 endnotes.).
Download or read book Choices and Challenges written by Priscilla Wohlstetter and published by Harvard Education Press. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As charter schools enter their third decade, research in this key sector remains overwhelmingly contradictory and confused. Many studies are narrowly focused; some do not meet the standards for high-quality academic research. In this definitive work, Wohlstetter and her colleagues isolate and distill the high-quality research on charter schools to identify the contextual and operational factors that influence these schools’ performances. The authors examine the track record of the charter sector in light of the wide range of goals set for these schools in state authorizing legislation—at the classroom level, the level of the school community, and system-wide. In particular, they show how the evolution of the charter movement has shaped research questions and findings. By highlighting what we know about the conditions for success in charter schools, the authors make a significant contribution to current debates in policy and practice, both within the charter sector and in the larger landscape of public education.
Download or read book Charter Schools against the Odds written by Paul T. Hill and published by Hoover Press. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The expert contributors to this volume tell how state laws and policies have stacked the deck against charter schools by limiting the number of charter schools allowed in a state, forbidding for-profit firms from holding charters, forcing them to pay rent out of operating funds, and other ways. They explain how these policies can be amended to level the playing field and give charter schools—and the children they serve—a fairer chance to succeed.
Download or read book Charter Schools and Accountability in Public Education written by Paul T. Hill and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004-05-13 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charter schools are among the most debated and least understood phenomena in American education today. At the heart of these matters is a contested question of accountability. To survive, charter schools must make and keep promises about what students will experience and learn under their purview. However, unlike public schools, charter schools do not rely exclusively on their relationship with school districts. They must also look to parents, teachers, and donors to cooperatively establish expectations of a particular school and its mission. Aimed toward elected officials, school reform activists, and educators, this book is the result of the first national-scale study of charter school accountability. The authors researched one hundred-fifty schools and sixty authorizing agencies in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Michigan. These states contain the majority of charter schools that have been operating for three years or more and represent the major differences in state charter school legislation. The authors include interviews from a range of participants in the field©¡from state legislators and administrators to principals, teachers, and parents. In assessing the structure of accountability as it works internally to bolster external confidence, Hill and Lake suggest the struggle of charter schools actually complements those of standards based reform. Both seek to transform public education to make schools responsible for performance, not compliance.
Download or read book The Terms of the Deal written by William Haft and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A contract is about commitment and responsibility. It is about the commitment that two or more parties make and the responsibility to deliver on those commitments. When school developers and authorizers turn a charter application into a contract, the relationship transforms: it shifts from aspiration to expectation and from theory to practice. The charter application contains the aspirations and theories of what the school can be. The contract defines the practical expectations for what, in fact, the school will become. The contract is the embodiment of the autonomy-for-accountability bargain and the commitments of both parties. The authorizer commits to entrusting public dollars and public school students to the independent governing board of the school. It also commits to giving the governing board more flexibility in how it operates the school than is afforded traditional public schools. In return, the school's governing board commits to handling the funds responsibly, complying with its legal obligations, and educating the students well. The contract is what makes school-based autonomy and accountability real and thus is critical for making the charter school concept work. This Issue Brief presents the legal framework in which the contract operates, the categories that the material terms should cover, and limitations on the scope. The purpose is to provide the reader with an overview of how to develop a quality charter school contract. (Contains 8 endnotes.).
