On average, the funding gap between charter schools and traditional schools is 22 percent, or $1,800 per pupil. The average charter school ends up with a total funding shortfall of nearly half a million dollars.
Source: Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier
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Brand Name Charters: the Franchise Model Applied to Schools
This article examines two models of public charter management organizations (CMOs): the corporate model with central management or the franchise. The corporate model with central management places its emphasis on a slow growth rate and careful attention to replicating an already successful model. The franchise model place its emphasis on a more rapid rate expansion and localized decision making. The author finds that the majority of public charter management organizations choose the corporate model to oversee the building and operation of each new school themselves. The trade-off for the slower growth is the assurance that each new school replicates the CMO’s standards for building design, staffing, and programs. KIPP, however, has adopted the franchise model providing intensive training for leaders who want to run KIPP-brand schools through its Fisher Fellowship program and carefully selecting communities in which to operate. KIPP does offer its new schools considerable freedom in deciding how they will earn and keep the KIPP brand. Choices regarding specific curricula, for example, are made by local school leaders. The author believes that the fast-growing franchise model, if done right, may be the best one for the public charter school movement.
Paying for A's: An Early Exploration of Student Reward and Incentive Programs in Charter Schools
This study examines a sample of public charter schools and their decisions to use or forego an incentive/reward program (such as concert tickets or MP3 players for reaching academic or behavioral goals) in their school to see if the systems make a positive impact. The author found that public charter schools' incentive/reward systems have a consistent positive effect for student learning in reading, adding 4 percentile points to the average student's performance each year the student participated in a incentive/rewards program. There was no evident impact in math. Public charter schools whose staff viewed reward systems as effective fared far better than schools where faculty support for the reward systems was weak. Schools in which there was continuous or near-continuous assessment of student conduct produced larger gains than those who assessed less often.
Charter Schools Job Board
USCharterSchools.org offers a free regularly-updated public charter school job board. Currently, over 100 jobs are posted. Positions range from part-time tutors to classroom teachers to CEOs of public charter school associations. Job-seekers may also post their resumes for up to 90 days for online viewing.
Charter Schools Indicators 2008
This second annual report on public charter schools in California draws on a quantitative database of multiple measures of schools, staff, and performance and finds that the public charter movement is growing and maturing. The rates of improvement of California's public charter schools continue to outpace those of non-charter public schools. Public charters have shown an improvement in their state rankings (API Composite), indicating improvement in overall academic achievement. Between 2004 and 2007, the number of public charter schools receiving the highest rankings went up by 3.8 percent (from 19.5 percent to 23.3 percent) and the public charter schools in the lowest rankings decreased by 3.9 percent (from 27.8 percent to 23.9 percent). Demographically, the state's public charter schools have higher proportions of African-American and white students, while non-charter public schools have higher proportions of Asian and Hispanic students.
New York City Charter Schools: Who Attends Them and How Well are They Teaching their Students?
This study examines 42 public charter schools operating in New York City in 2005-06. The authors find that NYC public charter schools are having positive effects on the academic progress of the students who attend them. Students in grades 3-8 scored substantially higher on state reading and math tests than would have been expected had they remained in district schools. (An insufficient number of public charter school students in grades 9 through 12 precluded the authors from accurately reporting achievement progress for high school students.) Applicants to the city's public charter schools are twice as likely to be black (64 percent versus 32 percent) and much less likely to be white or Asian (7 percent versus 28 percent) than the average public school student in New York City. Applicants to public charter schools are much more likely to be poor than is the average New York City student (93 percent versus 74 percent). About one-half of public charter school applicants are female, just like students in the traditional public schools.
Florida Charter School Conference, Orlando (November 20-21)
The Twelfth Annual Florida Charter School Conference, hosted by the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice, will take place November 20-21 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Orlando. The theme is "Charters: Providing Choice, Creating Change.”
Michigan Charter Public Schools Conference, Detroit (November 3-4)
Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA) will host the 11th annual Michigan Charter Public Schools Conference on November 3-4, 2008 at Cobo Hall in Detroit under the theme "The Call for Greatness." The two-day event is geared for educators, school board members, parents and potential public charter school founders. More than 100 speakers will cover topics for all levels through seminars, breakout sessions and table talks. Plus, vendors will be on hand to provide resources and new educational tools.
National Association of Charter School Authorizers Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN (October 27-28)
NACSA’s 8th Annual Conference, themed "Setting the Pace," will take place on October 27-28, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis. It will feature practice-oriented workshops focused on public charter school authorizing, as well as policy, research and strategy sessions.
Arizona Charter Schools Conference, Carefree (November 10-11)
At its 2008 conference,“Excellence by Design,” the Arizona Charter Schools Association is hosting more than 40 educational sessions led by state and national experts tailored to the needs of public charter leaders, administrators, business managers, teachers and board members. Attendees are encouraged to join round-table discussions, build peer-to-peer networks, and share best practices. The conference features Entrepreneurial Leadership Specialist Gregg Vanourek, Director of School Leadership Development for the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence Glenn Liebeck, Rebecca Gau of the Arizona Charter Schools Association and Dr. Yvonne Chan, who has consistently pushed the limits of education for nearly 40 years as an educator, school leader, and the founder of the first conversion charter school in the nation.
A Primer on Pennsylvania Cyber Schools
Online public charter schools are growing throughout Pennsylvania. Enrollment increased by nearly 760 percent in just five years (from 1,852 in 2001-02 to 15,865 in 2006-07). In the 2005-06 school year, 43 percent of online public charter school students came from low-income families, contrasted with the state average of 34 percent. Online public charter schools operate on significantly less funding than traditional public schools (in the 2005-06 school year, the average cyber school expenditure per pupil was $8,371; the state average per pupil spending that year was $11,485). Despite their increasing popularity, online public charter schools have come under attack from district school boards and some state lawmakers. Instead of trying to target online public charter schools and reduce their funding, the authors suggest that education leaders apply the following principles and accountability measures, including: allowing increased school choice, having the money follow the child, creating performance contracts for all public schools, and enforcing sanctions when those schools fail to meet their performance contract measures.
Countdown to New Orleans: National Charter Schools Conference, June 22-25
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will host the 2008 National Charter Schools Conference June 22-25 in New Orleans, LA. "Still We Rise: Achieving Academic Excellence at Scale" is the conference theme, reflecting the growth of quality public charter schools across America. The theme has special resonance in New Orleans, which boasts the nation's largest percentage of public charter school enrollment. Register for the conference athttp://www.nationalcharterconference.org. The conference is the largest gathering of charter school operators and supporters in the nation. Major speakers at the conference include Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, actor and education activist Danny Glover, philanthropist, supermodel and Happy Hearts Fund founder Petra Nemcova, Alliance President Nelson Smith and Geoffrey Canada, President and Chief Executive Officer for the Harlem Children's Zone. Attendees will learn and share best practices, discuss national and state policy issues, have the opportunity to volunteer at local charter schools, and enjoy special events featuring New Orleans traditions, food and music! Questions? Call 206-463-3344 or e-mail nationalconference@publiccharters.org.
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