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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Creating and Sustaining High-Quality Charter School Governing Boards
This guide examines the laws, policies, and programs that states are using to create and sustain
high-quality public charter school governing boards. It focuses on the two crucial aspects of governing boards: board composition and recruitment and board training.
The Terms of the Deal: A Quality Charter School Contract Defined
This Issue Brief provides an overview of how authorizers can develop a quality public charter school contract with public charter school developers. Unlike the charter application which contains the aspirations and theories of what the school can be, the contract defines the practical expectations for what the school will become. The author examines how authorizers can create a quality contract that clearly documents what the school and the authorizer are required to do and what the school is required to achieve. A strong public charter school contract is key for simplifying oversight, enabling the authorizer to focus on holding the school accountable for doing what the contract requires.
A Longitudinal Analysis of Charter School Performance in Oakland Unified School District
This new report from the California Charter School Association finds Oakland-area public charter schools are out-performing their public district-school peers. The researchers found that over the last three years, public charter schools in Oakland have consistently outperformed Oakland traditional schools on the California Department of Education's state Academic Performance Indicators (API). Public charter schools in Oakland outperformed traditional schools at every grade level on 2008 median API scores, with performance highest at the middle school level.
The public charters outperformed traditional public schools with a number of subgroup populations, including Asian, socio-economically disadvantaged, African American, English Learner, and Latino students. The charters also were more likely to meet API and AYP targets in 2008 than traditional public schools.
Informing the Debate: Comparing Boston's Charter, Pilot, and Traditional Schools
A study, released by researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found Boston's public charter schools significantly outperformed the city's traditional public schools in recent years. Using an observational study (which controlled for a wide variety of student factors) and a lottery study (in which students who were accepted to the charter schools were compared to students who applied to the same schools but were not accepted), the researchers found that public charter schools had a consistently positive impact on student achievement in all state subject assessments in both middle school and high school.
Charter Schools Institute: Practices for High Performance, July 20-23
This summer's Charter Schools Institute, located at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is designed for those involved in the design and implementation of public charter schools at both the school and system levels as well as those responsible for the design of state or national policy affecting public charter schools. The intensive four-day program will help participants examine elements of high- performing public charter schools, explore issues of scale-up that support positive outcomes for students, address topics of internal accountability within public charters that enhance student learning, set priorities and allocate resources to build organizational capacity, and devise a theory of action for working effectively with external agencies and constituencies.
National Charter School Conference, Washington, DC, June 21-24
The National Charter Schools Conference, the only national gathering of the entire public charter school community, offers opportunities to hear from new administration, education policy and movement leaders, to learn new ways to reach students and improve academic achievement, and to network with public charter school professionals from across the nation. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will present a keynote address at the opening general session on Monday, June 22. DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein are confirmed speakers. Pre-Conference Workshops include the National Charter Schools Teachers Institute, School Board Boot Camp, and How to Become a Green Charter School. June 24 is Advocacy Day. More information available at the conference's website.
Free National Charter Schools Teacher Institute, Washington, June 21
The U.S. Department of Education is offering a free pre-conference for classroom teachers prior to the 9th Annual National Charter Schools Conference. Teachers will be able to participate in high-quality professional development designed to provide the classroom support, technical assistance, and increased collaboration needed to assure academic success for all students. Prominent teachers leaders from around the country will provide training sessions and share research-based practices they have successfully applied in their classrooms and schools.
Participants will discuss instructional strategies in each content area and for each grade level. Content focus for the sessions will be available in the following areas: differentiated Instruction, English Language Learners, history, math, reading, science, technology to support student achievement and using data. Conference registration available online and at 1-800-280-6218.
Inside Urban Charter Schools
This book examines the operations and strategies of five consistently high-performing public charter schools in urban Massachusetts that serve significant numbers of children living in poverty. The authors find that, while the schools are unique in important ways, they share several common practices and approaches to educating children, including organizational structures that are coordinated and coherent -- every individual, program, system, structure, and decision has a defined role and works in concert toward the fulfillment of clear, widely embraced goals related to academic achievement.
California Charter Schools Conference, March 10-12
The 16th Annual California Charter Schools Conference will be held March 10-13, 2009 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. The theme of this year's conference is "Quality Charter Schools Strengthen Communities." In addition to keynote speakers, student performances, networking events, more than 150 breakout sessions will be offered. For questions and more information about the conference, e-mail charterconf@continue.uoregon.edu or call 1-800-280-6218.
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