(Re)Designing Learning Environments. ( George Lucas Educational Foundation ) This featured program offers an in-depth journey into the planning and creation of new types of schools and learning environments with the hope that creative new schools will be built that reflect the mission of the school. The site showcases facility design through photos, interviews, and statistics on selected projects.

1997 Charter Schools National Conference Workshop Session on Special Education. This transcript of a workshop by Tom Hehir, Director of the Office of Special Education Programs, and Jeanette Lim, from the Office for Civil Rights, in the Department of Education, answers questions about the applicability of federal laws regarding the education of children with disabilities to charter schools.

2006 National Charter Schools Conference. U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is now scheduled to participate live, via satellite, on March 2 at the 2006 National Charter Schools Conference (to be held February 28 - March 3, 2006 in Sacramento, CA).* In a conversation with John Merrow (host of PBS' Learning Matters), she will discuss the impact of what is happening in New Orleans on the overall charter school movement. Other featured speakers include Bill Nye the Science Guy and a host of national charter experts and advocates who will share their perspectives on the state of the charter movement. View programming (over 170 sessions and table-talk discussions to choose from) and speaker details, as well as register and make hotel reservations at the conference web site at http://www.charterconference.org. To register by phone, call 800-280-6218. *Participation subject to Senator Landrieu's schedule.

2007 Charter School Facility Finance Landscape. This 2007 edition of the Landscape provides an expanded snapshot of the public and nonprofit financing programs for charter school facilities across the nation. It is designed to serve as a roadmap for individual charter schools as they work to finance their buildings and as a policy guide for those interested in helping the sector and developing more equitable funding for charter school facilities. Based on extensive research, the document includes descriptions of financing products and geographic markets for 25 private nonprofit providers, two public-private partnerships, and several public initiatives for charter school facilities at both the federal and state levels. It also provides a listing of all state-level grant, loan and credit enhancement programs in the 41 jurisdictions with a charter law.

A Reference Guide to Special Education Law for Charter School Authorizers. ( 2003, December, National Association of Charter School Authorizers ) This technical assistance guide addresses the key elements of federal special education law and regulation and examines authorizers' oversight roles in ensuring that charter schools are appropriately addressing the educational needs of students with disabilities.

Accountability for Student Performance. ( 2001, September, Charter Friends National Network ) This updated guide addresses the growing number of accountability resources and organizations focused on charter accountability. Readers can read brief descriptions and access links to recommended resources on mission, standards, measurement, evaluation, and reporting.

Angels and Elbow Grease: A Handbook for Starting a Charter School in New Jersey. ( 2000, New Jersey Charter School Resource Center ) This second edition handbook is a step-by-step guide to starting a charter school in New Jersey. Call 973-621-6631 ext 201 and request a order form or, send your order information and a check or money order made payable to "NJISI" to: New Jersey Institute for School Innovation 303-309 Washington Street, 5th Floor Newark, NJ 07102

Assessment of the Chief Executive. ( 1999, National Center for Nonprofit Boards ) This examination of evaluating the charter school leader includes a diskette containing assessment tools for annual reviews.

Assessment Reform, Equity, and English Language Learners: An Annotated Bibliography. ( 1998, Northeast and Island Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University ) This publication provides a representative sampling of resources on assessment policy and their effects on the education of English language learners. The bibliography describes publications that focus on the theory, research, or practical applications of assessment as these topics relate to educational equity generally and to the education of English language learners specifically.

Attracting and Retaining Teachers of Color. ( 1999, National Association of Independent Schools ) This 1999 study helps clarify useful strategies for building a diverse teaching force.

Authorizer Self-Evaluation Instruments. This set of Authorizer Self-Evaluation Instruments in based on NACSA’s Principles & Standards for Quality Charter School Authorizing. The instruments identify benchmarks which are intended to provide definition of the kinds of practices, actions and activities a quality authorizer conducts. They are intended to help authorizers reflect on their practices by identifying authorizing strengths and areas for ongoing improvement.

Back to School: Ten Things You Should Know About Charter Schools. This brief presents ten facts for charter advocates to share with community members, the media, and local and state policymakers to illustrate that charter schools are public schools. Facts include "58 percent of charter school students are minority and 52 percent are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch" and "many charter schools are helping to close the achievement gap for low-income and minority students."

Board Assessment of the Organization. ( 1999, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

Board Tune-ups. ( Independent Schools Association of the Central States ) The board plays an essential role in governing the charter school. Because so much is riding on the effectiveness of the board in carrying out its roles and responsibilities, it is important that the board spends time looking at its own performance in order to improve it. This is a collection of 13 assessment tools for the periodic tune-up of your charter school board.

Building a Full-service School: a Step-by-step Guide. ( 1998, Jossey-Bass ) This document provides strategies on creating a school that is deeply connected to the community. Diskettes with numerous planning forms and worksheets are included.

Building Excellent Schools Fellowship. The Building Excellent Schools Fellowship is a rigorous, 12-month training program that prepares dedicated, hard-working and talented individuals to design and manage academically excellent urban charter schools.

Building Excellent Schools Fellows are carefully selected future school leaders who come already focused on one goal: founding and operating a high-performing charter school. Instead of paying BES for its training, Fellows are paid by BES a generous professional stipend of $80,000 for their year's work in the program.

We are currently accepting applications from Fellowship candidates with a vision to launch charter schools in the following urban areas: Denver, CO; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Memphis, TN; New Orleans, LA; New York City, NY; Oakland, CA; Phoenix, AZ; San Diego, CA; St. Louis, MO; Washington, DC; New Jersey

For more information, please visit our website:
http://buildingexcellentschools.org

Building Successful Partnerships: A Guide for Developing Parent and Family Involvement. ( 2000, National Education Service ) This book is a comprehensive implementation guide on the national parent/family involvement standards which are designed to provide the foundation for developing a quality parent involvement program.

Business Plan Roadmap to Success. This site provides workshop notes from a US Small Business Administration workshop session on developing business plans.

Catalog of School Reform Models. Compiled by (NWREL) at the request of the U.S. Department of Education. The Catalog of School Reform Models Web site was developed to support schools, districts, states, and others as they proceed with their work under the Obey-Porter Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program (CSRD) passed by the U.S. Congress in 1997. It contains descriptions of 64 models, including 33 entire-school reform models and 31 skill- and content-based models (reading, math, science, and other areas).

Charter Granting Agencies Accountability Toolkit. ( 1999, Charter Schools Development Center ) This publication, intended for California district, county, and state sponsors, offers insight to clarify the charter petitioning, monitoring, and renewal process. It includes sample policies and documents. It is available from the Charter Schools Development Center for $45.00.

Charter School Accountability Action Guide. ( 2000, Pioneer Institute ) This Accountability Action Guide is designed to provide faculty, administrators, and standards and assessment teams at charter schools with a step-by-step approach, a "recipe" for building a school-wide academic accountability system. The six steps presented and discussed in the guide are drawn from best practices and lessons learned in several charter schools as they implemented the Accountability Assistance Project (AAP).

Charter School Accountability Consultant Referral Network. ( Charter Friends National Network ) This website provides a directory of consultants who assist charter schools and others with accountability planning, workshops, standards/curriculum alignment, etc.

Charter School Accountability Tool Kit, 4th Edition. ( 2000, Charter Schools Development Center ) Created primarily for California charter school developers and authorizers, this extensive tool kit provides sample documents from charter and other schools nationwide. Documents include a sample charter and Memorandum of Understanding (a.k.a. Annual Operating Agreement), student performance materials, governance, legal, and financial documents, annual reports, and renewal documents.

Charter School Accountability: A Guide to Issues and Options for Charter Authorizers. ( 2000 ) This guide, commissioned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, aims to present charter school authorizers with a clear picture of the design issues they face in creating accountability systems for charter schools, and a review of some of the approaches charter-granting agencies around the country are using to address these issues. While charter school authorizers are the primary audience of this guide, it may also be of interest to charter school leaders, state policymakers, and state and district leaders. To order a printed copy, send email to info@charterfriends.org.

Charter School Board Governance 101. To help charter school board members govern their schools more effectively, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, in partnership with the The National Association of Charter School Authorizers, The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and other Ohio based organizations, hosted a seminar on the essentials of charter school governance in October 2007. To help charter school leaders who were not in attendance, the organization posted presentations about board roles, academic accountability, charter school law, and potential legal liabilities. While some of the presentations were Ohio-specific, charter school stakeholders from other states will find the governance materials to be helpful.

Charter School Board University. This new training manual presents a "how-to" guide for charter school board members. Written by Brian Carpenter, CEO of the National Charter Schools Institute, the book also serves as the foundation for the Institute's board training seminars.

Charter School Coalition. The Charter Coalition (TCC) is comprised of community development organizations that share a common mission to improve the viability of low-income and economically distressed communities with each member currently providing financial and development services to charter schools in low-income communities. The primary goals of the TCC include: leveraging the expertise and resources of its members to increase the accessibility to capital and technical assistance to charter schools; formulating industry best practice among community development practitioners; and creating a collective voice to advocate actively for public policy changes that support charter schools' efforts to build and strengthen communities. Ongoing activities include establishing consistent communications and networking opportunities, formulating best practices, and increasing resources and access to real estate development resources.

Charter School Executives: Toward a New Generation of Leadership. With the number of public charter schools predicted to significantly increase in the coming decade, a new report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools recommends a series of measures to recruit and prepare the next generation of leadership in two approaches. The report recommends expanding current ways for schools and networks to “grow their own” and establishing a national credential for executive management.

Charter School Facilities: A Resource Guide on Development and Financing. ( 2000, April, National Cooperative Bank ) NCB Development Corporation and the Charter Friends National Network designed this resource guide to help navigate the facility development process. It covers facility planning, needs assessment, site selection, construction, and financing. Access the full guide in html here. This guide can also be downloaded in sections here.

Charter School Facilities: School Energy Savings. In response to rising fuel costs and other school expenses, the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities offers a helpful list of links, books, and journal articles on heating, cooling, lighting, and maintaining school and campus facilities that results in energy efficiencies.

Charter School Governance Toolkit. ( 1999, Charter Schools Development Center ) This 300+ page technical assistance guide offers a wide range of sample materials showing how to establish clear and grounded charter school governance structures. These materials were compiled from actual samples shared by existing California charter schools. Some of the resources include: sample articles of incorporation and bylaws; strategic and business plans; school performance accountability documents; and, resources regarding effective boardsmanship.

Charter School Governing Board Training Handbook. This training manual covers board structure and responsibilities. It provides a series of recommendations on holding productive board meetings, promoting the mission and vision of the school, engaging in strategic planning, developing sound policy, training, renewal and accreditation, financial planning and oversight, relationships with administrators, and common challenges and pitfalls.

Charter School Growth Fund. The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is seeking qualified charter school operators nationwide for it 2006 planning process. CSGF is a philanthropic venture firm that makes early-stage grants and loans for the development of charter management and support organizations that provide a quality education option to underserved students. CSGF accomplishes this mission by providing proven charter school operators with the guidance and resources necessary to create self-sufficient networks of high-performing schools.The application is available on CSGF's website (http://chartergrowthfund.org/) with regional information meetings in early January. The deadline is February 6, 2006.

Charter School Partnerships: 8 Key Lessons for Success. Partnering with other organizations can provide charter schools with important financial, human, physical, and organizational resources. This guide offers a variety of lessons learned by over 20 charter schools across the nation about how to form and sustain mutually beneficial partnerships with nonprofit, for-profit and public organizations. It walks charter developers through critical issues and challenges and offers a series of recommendations, including details about the following eight lessons that create the structure of the guide. (1) Weigh the costs and benefits of partnering. (2) Do your homework and choose your partner well. (3) Clearly define the partnership. (4) Create structures for partnership. (5) Leverage your resources; create new ones. (6) Be flexible and prepare for compromise. (7) Check your progress. (8) Lead. The authors caution charter school developers and leaders to choose their partnering opportunities cautiously.

Charter School Workbook: Your Roadmap to the Charter School Movement. ( 1997, Center for Education Reform ) Topics covered in this guide include the following: ranking of charter states' laws; highlights of the history of the movement; statistics on the ever-growing number of schools; profiles of outstanding charter schools in operation around the country, a look at the successes and obstacles faced by charter school applicants, and a directory to the technical, financial and policy assistance provided by state and national organizations.

Charter Schools and Community Relations. ( Northwest Regional Education Laboratory ) The subject of this video and companion annotated transcript is how charter schools can tell their story accurately and persuasively to individuals and groups instrumental to their success. In it, panelists discuss such topics as public relations, community relations, and public affairs — and their differences; the need for planning; targeting audiences; developing messages; building relationships; finding public relations experts to help; working with the news media; and marketing to potential students and their parents.

Charter Schools and Special Education: A Report on State Policies. ( 1999, March ) This report is a review of state policy documents, other than state laws, as they pertain to students with disabilities in charter schools. It includes background on charter schools and relevant federal legislation, a report of a survey on state policy documents, and a discussion of critical issues related to this topic.

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.

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 Starters Workbook. ( 1999, NWREL ) "Charter Starters" consists of five workbooks, the training guide & a profile of leadership needs: Start-Up Logistics, Regulatory Issues, Assessment and Accountability, Governance and Management, and Community Relations. These workbooks provide tools, sample documents, and other resources.

Charter-Granting Agencies' Tool Kit, California Edition 6. ( 2002, April, Charter Schools Development Center ) Geared toward California school districts, county and state offices of education that grant charters and oversee charter schools, this tool kit includes sample documents from grantors in California and across the country regarding the charter review process, charter oversight and monitoring, and renewal.

Charter-Granting Agencies' Tool Kit, National Edition. ( 2000, December, Charter Schools Development Center ) Developed by the California Charter Schools Development Center for charter-granting agencies, school districts, and county and state offices of education nationwide, this extensive tool kit contains hundreds of sample documents addressing charter review, operational relations, monitoring and renewal, and leveraging system-wide change.

Charters in Our Midst: The Impact of Charter Schools on School Districts. ( 1997, NCREL ) This School Development Outreach package offers something for every level of interest and expertise in a variety of formats: audiotape, pocket booklet, and quick reference flyer. It is intended for policymakers involved with or considering charter schools or just trying to cope with the growing numbers and visibility of such schools. It also is intended for school districts so that they may learn from others and make solid school reform decisions.

Charting a Clear Course: Guide for building successful partnerships with school management companies. ( 1999, Charter Friends National Network ) Drawing on the experiences of charter schools nationwide, this resource guide aims to help charter school boards structure stable, productive relationships with school management organizations. It identifies key issues, highlights options, and presents questions to consider in areas such as: understanding the landscape of educational contracting; clearly defining roles and responsibilities; establishing clear guidelines for the contract and relationship; carefully structuring the evaluation of performance; creating a clear understanding regarding the management organization's compensation and the school's financial affairs; making clear the ownership of physical and intellectual property.

Choices in Education Database. This database offers information on school choice laws and enrollment opportunities in each state. The site also provides archives of school choice research, news, and chronologies of school choice policy arranged by state.

Choosing A School for Your Child. This guidebook provides details about the school choice options families have under the federal No Child Left Behind act and lists the different types of public schools (district, charter, magnet, virtual, etc.) and nonpublic schools from which they can choose. The document is also a workbook designed to help families select a school that will be the best fit for their child by identifying the student's learning style and matching it with the school that will best meet their needs. Several lists of questions for families to consider about an individual school’s environment, faculty, curriculum, approach to learning, academic performance, safety, behavior policy, facilities, services, and extracurricular activities are provided.

Code Check: Building Code Information. This website provides detailed information about the most common building code violations and how to avoid making them.

Colorado Charter School Information Packet and Handbook. ( 1998, Colorado Department of Education ) This handbook includes information on the Colorado charter law, accreditation, charter school funding, state board appeal procedures, and waivers, as well as descriptions of school reform model designs.

Colorado League of Charter Schools' Accountability and Evaluation Proposal. ( 1999 ) The Colorado League of Charter Schools developed this proposal to guide schools and authorizers in ensuring that charter schools are accountable and are meeting their goals during the years that lead up to the charter renewal process.

Complete Toolkit for Boards. ( 1999, Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits ) This extensive website is loaded with sample documents (Charter/Constitution/Articles, Operating Rules, Policies, etc). It also provides information about important board topics such as board roles and responsibilities, staffing the board, and ensuring successful meetings.

Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Guidebook. ( 2000 ) The purpose of this guidebook is to provide a coherent framework for planning schoolwide improvements. It is intended to help educators begin to redesign schools, to move beyond piecemeal reforms, and to reconfigure entire academic programs to help every student meet challenging standards. The guidebook describes the context and key elements of comprehensive school reform, and it offers a process for conducting comprehensive data analysis, planning, and implementation. It includes tools and activities to facilitate planning and implementation, profiles of successful schools, and lists of additional resources.

Comprehensive, Practical Guide to Holding Charter Schools Accountable. This 135+ page guide addresses accountability for both student performance and schoolwide performance. It provides intensive, practical information to enable charter schools to address accountability matters in a straightforward and credible fashion. The Guide covers standards-setting (including updates on California's state standards efforts), alignment of standards with curriculum and assessment, selection of appropriate assessment and testing tools (including state-mandated standardized testing), sponsor relations, and accountability for sound school operations (finance, legal, governance). The guide also includes actual sample documents and practices from "model" charter and non-charter schools.

Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education. This compilation of content standards for K-12 curriculum, in both searchable and browsable formats, catalogs nearly 250 highly regarded national, state, district, and other academic standards and related benchmarks in 11 major disciplines (ranging from math and language arts, to "life skills"). It appears to borrow heavily from the major national-level standards-setting efforts in many subject areas, while only briefly referencing state-level efforts.

Corporations, Chambers, and Charters: How Businesses Can Support High-Quality Public Charter Schools. This report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for a Competitive Workforce calls for businesses and local chambers of commerce to actively support the expansion of public charter schools to help meet the national need for a highly educated workforce. The report, "Corporations, Chambers, and Charters: How Businesses Can Support High-Quality Public Charter Schools," recommends five key actions: build a robust supply of high-quality new schools in the communities that need them; fuel the pipeline of human capital needed to operate new schools; address critical operational challenges the schools face; define and improve the quality of schools; and forge charter-friendly public policies through state and local lawmaking.

Creating an Effective Charter School Governing Board (Summary). ( 2000, Charter Friends National Network ) This summarizes a resource guide offering strategies for meeting the numerous critical challenges that charter school governing boards must meet to build and maintain effective charter school boards. Access the full guide in HTML here. Many online tools, including sample policy statements, self-assessment questionnaires, and sample evaluation forms are available, as are directions for accessing additional resources.

Creating and Sustaining Family Friendly Charter Schools. ( 2000, Charter Friends National Network ) This resource guide offers strategies for involving families and other community members in the design phase and on a day-to-day basis once the school is up and running. The document highlights ways to communicate with parents and other community members about the school as well as ways to improve continuously the school's responsiveness to stakeholders.

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.

Creating New Schools: The Strategic Management of Schools. ( 2003, October, Annie E. Casey Foundation ) For a charter school to be effective, someone in the leadership team must take the time to think long-term and strategically. This how-to guide on strategic management provides guidance in the elements of strategy, stages of school development, school management, and performance measurement.

Data Analysis for Comprehensive Schoolwide Improvement. This helpful book on gathering and analyzing schoolwide performance data includes student performance data and other measures.

Designing Teacher Evaluation Systems that Support Professional Growth. ( SERVE ) This publication on teacher evaluation can be ordered by accessing http://www.serve.org/publications/rdtes2.htm or calling (800) 352-6001

DesignShare. ( Design Share ) A commercial site offering an online library of A/E firms and K-12 school projects with diagrams of architectural plans, Environments for Learning award program, articles and research, an E-newsletter, links to related sites, and a bookstore.

Developing Education Standards. This site, maintained by Putnam Valley Central Schools in New York, offers an annotated list of Internet sites with K-12 educational standards and curriculum framework documents. The list is indexed by governmental and general resources, by subject area and by state.

Discipline: Policies and Procedures. ( 1983, BNA ) This is a somewhat dated but still valuable introduction to "just cause" and "progressive discipline" as used in the unionized private sector. The volume catalogues different forms of misconduct and discusses when discipline or discharge has been considered "just." Though not designed for the at-will context or the "tenured" teacher context, this volume could be very useful as a non-binding set of guidelines or suggestions for managers.

Eco-Charter Schools. Eco-charter schools with environment-focused and project-based programs have sprung up in at least ten states. Environment and sustainability are the integrating qualities of learning in "green," high-performance charter schools. Charter school faculty at these schools seek to improve student’s education by utilizing the environment as the integrating content for most or all curriculum areas. The Wisconsin Charter Schools Association and the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools are helping to coordinate the green/environmental charter schools initiative by fostering the creation of environmental-focused charter schools and encouraging the sharing of effective practices.

Education Resources for Spanish-Speaking Families. This new website features free education-related reports and resources for Latino parents, community leaders and advocates. It offers Spanish-speaking parents access to information about educational opportunities, outcomes, advocacy, accountability systems and school reform initiatives, such as charter schools. Also included are tools for parents to help them understand their rights and advice on how to get more involved in school improvement efforts. The site is also available in English.

Education Service Provider Clearinghouse. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers' Education Service Provider (ESP) Clearinghouse offers details on 44 national and regional service providers serving charter schools nationwide. Each profile in the clearinghouse describes the services provided by the ESP to charter schools, the educational programming offered, a listing of all charter schools served by the ESP, organizational structure and contact information, and references to accountability data, evaluations, news articles and other documents that examine the ESP's educational programs or schools. The information was collected from a wide range of sources, including charter authorizers around the country, state education agencies, other public sources, and the service providers themselves.

Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform. ( Educational Research Service ) Commissioned by a group of national education organizations and conducted by the American Institutes for Research, this study reviews research data on 24 school reform models, rates the quality of support provided by the model developers, and provides additional information on the cost and number of schools implementing the models.

Effective School Boards. ( 1999, Jossey-Bass )

Elkouri and Elkouri: How Arbitration Works. ( 1996, BNA ) This is the standard reference work on arbitration of labor and employment disputes.

Employment Dispute Resolution and Workers' Rights. ( 1999, Industrial Relations Research Association ) This text looks at the empirical literature on employment Alternative Dispute Resolution practices.

Engaging Parents in Education. This federal guide can be used by charter schools to improve or expand parental involvement programs. It profiles the strategies of several Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) designed to successfully increase parental involvement in education. The document emphasizes the power of strong parent-educator partnerships to improve schools and raise students' academic achievement.

ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students. These ESL Standards, which where developed as a collaborative effort between T.E.S.O.L. and the Center for Applied Linguistics, are helpful in planning curriculum for English Language Learners. They are clustered by grade level (pre-K-3, 4-8, and 9-12) and address varying degrees of proficiency (beginner, intermediate, advanced). Vignettes of actual instructional sequences in which teachers help students meet the standards in diverse settings are provided.

Expanding the Circle: Charter Schools and the News Media. This handbook is designed to help charter school leaders and faculty identify key messages to share with the public, select spokespersons, work with reporters and editorial boards, write opinion pieces, and become generally media-savvy.

Facilitator's Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning. ( 1997, The Management Assistance Program )

Fall 2005 Charter School Leadership Summit: Blazing the Trail. The Charter Schools Development Center and CharterVoice have announced a 2005 Charter School Leadership Summit to be held in Berkley, CA on November 1-3. The conference is designed to provide charter school developers, operators, and grantors from California and around the nation with guidance on how to develop, lead, and oversee charter schools. Pre-summit "mini-boot camps" offered on November 1 will include "Advanced Charter School Governance," "Start Smart: Charter School Development," and other topics. Ted Kolderie is the featured keynote speaker.

Family Involvement Standards, Survey of the Research. ( National PTA ) When it comes to parent involvement and its powerful influence, the knowledge base is broad and clear. The challenge comes in transforming knowledge into practice, and practice into results. This site summarizes the findings of a comprehensive survey of the research, consisting of a series of publications developed by Anne Henderson and Nancy Berla: The Evidence Grows (1981); The Evidence Continues to Grow (1987); and A New Generation of Evidence: The Family Is Critical to Student Achievement (1995). Citing more than 85 studies, these publications document the profound and comprehensive benefits for students, families, and schools, when parents and family members become participants in their children's education and their lives.

Financial Empowerment: More Money for Mission. ( 1996, John Wiley and Sons )

Find A Charter School. The Center for Education Reform offers an interactive map that allows users to find public charter schools by school name, location, program, and state. Public charter school officials can also use the map to update their schools' information as well as post job openings.

Forging Nonprofit Alliances. ( 1999, Jossey-Bass )

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.

Full-service Schools. ( 1984, Jossey-Bass )

Fund Raising and the Nonprofit Board. ( 1998, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

Generating Expectations for Student Achievement: A Teacher Handbook. ( 1997, GrayMill Publications ) Designed to help teachers assess their classroom practices, interactions with students, and curriculum materials, GESA contains five units that are each practiced from two weeks to a month. Each unit contains: (1) an area of disparity (instructional contact; grouping and organization; classroom management/discipline; self-esteem; evaluation of student performance); (2) information on interactions (response opportunities and feedback; wait time and physical closeness; touching and reproof; listening and probing; and higher level questioning and analytical feedback); and (3) curriculum related issues (evaluating materials for bias; math, science, and technology; multicultural/pluralistic resources; gender/race/ethnic balance in history; and physical activity and sexuality). To order call: 1-800-218-GESA.

Getting Partnering Right. ( 1996, McGraw-Hill )

Governance and Management, Charter Starters Workbook. ( NWREL ) Offering numerous tools, sample documents and other resources on governance and management, this workbook addresses common charter school start-up issues.

Grassroots Fundraising Journal. ( Chardon Press ) The Grassroots Fundraising Journal helps nonprofit organizations learn how to raise more money to support their important work. Published bi-monthly, theGrassroots Fundraising Journal offers practical, how-to instruction on fundraising strategies such as: direct mail, special events, major gift campaigns, and phone-a-thons, as well as tools to help you build a board of directors that is willing to raise money, choose a database to track donors, manage your time effectively, and ultimately develop a successful fundraising program.

Green Book Grants Management Website. Through this website, readers can find federal, foundation, corporate and other grants for schools with the application guidelines (RFPs). The grants listed on the site can be searched by funder or by specific need (curriculum, facilities, etc.). Current information on state grants is limited to Arizona state grants, but information about federal, foundation, and corporate grants available for charter schools can be found by using this comprehensive resource.

Guide for Developing a Business Plan for Charter Schools. ( 1998 ) This brief guide provides some suggestions for those developing and operating charter schools who want to demonstrate that their school is on a strong fiscal footing. Individual copies of the business planning guide are available to current and prospective school operators at no charge and may be ordered by calling the Friends Network office at 612-644-5270 or via e-mail at info@charterfriends.org.

Guide for Developing a Business Plan For Charter Schools. ( 1998, Charter Friends National Network ) This guide provides assistance in developing a business plan to be used as a management tool in the operation of individual schools, as well as in charter application preparation, renewals, and grant and loan applications.

Guide for Planning Educational Facilities. ( 1991, Council of Educational Facility Planners International )

Guide to Developing Equitable Performance Assessments. ( 1995, WestEd ) Recognizing that each student brings her own background to the classroom, the authors point out the shortcomings of using one assessment for all students. Using relevant content references and allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge in a culturally appropriate way are two strategies teachers can utilize to create equitable assessments. To order this publication, call: 415-565-3044.

Guidebook for chartering agencies. ( 1996, Santa Monica, CA: RAND Institute on Education and Training ) Please see the abstract for this resource provided by ERIC:ED404755.

Handbook for Student Performance Assessment in an Era of Restructuring. ( 1996 ) This collection of chapters is designed to help educators at the school, district, and state levels look at performance assessment in the context of school restructuring, and includes original examples plus materials from government agencies, exemplary schools, research centers, and leading education journals. Topics include developing learning goals, aligning assessment with curriculum and instruction, designing assessment tasks, establishing performance criteria, and using performance assessment information for improvement. Go to the ASCD publications site to order this book or for more information.

Historic Schools: A Roadmap for Saving Your School. ( 2002, National Trust for Historic Preservation ) This brief suggests that not every historic school can or even should be saved, but all too often, historic schools and options for renovation are routinely dismissed without full consideration of alternatives or community input.

Historic Schools: Renovation vs. Replacement & the Role of a Feasibility Study. ( 2002, National Trust for Historic Preservation ) Weighing the pros and cons of renovating a historic neighborhood school or building a new one takes preservation "know-how," experience, and creativity. Central to this decision-making process is the feasibility study, often conducted by an architectural consultant. The included feasibility study checklist can help identify the factors involved in making the best decision and assuring that a feasibility study for an historic neighborhood school is fair, objective, and reasonable. It will also assist in identifying "warning signs," questions to ask, and knowing what to look for when challenging the results and projected cost estimates of a feasibility study.

How Can We Reduce Conflict Between Charter Schools and School Districts?. This report, created by 21 public education stakeholders who spent six months negotiating, mediating, and developing many recommendations, is designed to help charter and district school leaders to respect and to support one another's commitment to providing a quality, equitable public education for all school children. It suggests that all parties must work to create opportunities for charters and districts to collaborate on mutually beneficial projects, including sharing best practices, developing skills to enhance parent involvement, and improving working conditions for faculty. The report calls on policymakers to take immediate steps to position both charter and district schools for success by remedying critical financing problems. All stakeholders are called to focus on the ultimate goal of public education, which in all its forms, is increased student achievement.

How Charter Schools Can Survive the Financial Crisis. On November 12, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools offered a free webcast for those working across the public charter school landscape to better understand potential financial challenges and begin to form strategic business responses. The panel made a series of observations about what public charter school operators can expect in the near term. These include: funding delays in reaching schools as a result of the credit crunch; and, reduced philanthropic funding; less funding from commercial banks. Several recommendations to survive the financial crisis were offered, including: check the stability of your commercial bank, diversify and re-allocate funds to conservative investments; and focus on maintaining liquidity and securing a cash reserve.

How Community-Based Organizations Can Start Charter Schools. ( 2001, September, Charter Friends National Network ) The emergence of the public charter school movement has contributed new energy and vitality to the emphasis on school-community collaboration. A growing number of charter schools are being designed, launched and operated by community-based nonprofit organizations. This guide addresses creating and sustaining a healthy relationship between a new charter school and a founding nonprofit, leading to the creation and operation of a highly successful school. The guide draws on the latest thinking about building effective partnerships and alliances. It also relies heavily on interviews with the leaders of 15 charter schools founded by pre-existing nonprofits, the leaders of several state charter school support organizations, and representatives of some of the national nonprofits that are actively supporting charter school start-ups by their local affiliates. Several sample documents are included. The document is sponsored by the Charter Friends National Network and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

How to Manage Conflict of Interest: a Guide for Nonprofit Boards. ( 1995, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

How to Start a Charter School: Cultivating the Seeds of Educational Success. This guide offers prospective public charter school developers recommendations for building support for a new public charter school. It gives guidance on developing a master plan and presents a "roadmap" for the application and approval processes.

IDEA '97 Training Package. ( OSERS ) The IDEA'97 Training Package developed by the Office of Special Education-funded National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY) focuses on some of the legal requirements and provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997. It contains background information, resources, handouts, and training scripts on the law.

If the Shoe Fits: A Guide for Charter Schools Thinking about Adopting a Comprehensive School Design. ( 1998, Charter Friends National Network ) This policy paper identifies opportunities and strategies for linking charter schools and comprehensive school design organizations.

Illinois Charter School Developer's Handbook: Getting Your Charter School Off the Ground. ( Leadership for Quality Education ) While this guide was developed for Illinois' charter schools, charter school leaders in other communities will find that this resource offers practical, valuable advice for the phases of planning, designing, and operating a charter school. Important guiding principles and tips for several areas are provided, including: drafting a charter proposal, gaining community support, developing an educational program and accountability standards, recruiting and enrolling students, designing a school governance structure, recruiting and selecting staff, making personnel policies and contracts, fundraising and budgeting, finding and financing facilities, and complying with laws that apply to charter schools.

Illinois Charter School Resource Guide. ( 1999, Leadership for Quality Education ) While many of the challenges and difficulties of creating charter schools are similar nationwide, this guide is tailored to address the requirements specific to Illinois' charter law. It includes excellent information to help charter school developers with every aspect of starting and running a charter school.

Improving Charter School Leadership. As the number of students attending public charter schools continues to rise, state leaders have a growing interest in ensuring that the public charter school sector is well-equipped to meet the goals of improving student achievement. A new report says governors and states should support university-based leadership-training programs and nontraditional organizations that focus on developing public charter school leaders. The report from the National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices with the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities examines the recruitment and training of public charter school leaders and board members, as well as the issues they face in getting the skills needed to run public charters.

Improving Classroom Assessment: A toolkit for professional developers. ( 1998 ) A product of national research and development efforts, Toolkit98 is designed for those responsible for coordinating and facilitating professional development in assessment. It contains 35 activities organized in four sequentially developed modules with instructions for trainers, overhead masters, readings, 48 sample assessments, student work samples, and an assessment evaluation form for use in training. A hands-on document, it's filled with activities designed for workshop presentation. To order: Contact Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 101 SW Main Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97204, or phone, 503/275-9519.

Improving Teaching Through Pay for Contribution. This report published by the National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices sets forth a guiding principle for teacher compensation - "pay for contribution" - and uses cross-industry research to show pay reform models that works. Public charter school leaders can use the document to learn how some organizations are having success with innovative compensation models that attract and retain higher performers and improve the effectiveness of all staff. Several compensation models are discussed, including performance pay, hard-to-staff-school pay, skill shortage pay, and skill and knowledge pay.

In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization. ( 2002, Beacon Press ) Author Deborah Meier, founder and co-principal of Boston's Mission Hill School, tackles the issue of standardized curricula and assessment in this book. She finds increased standardized testing to be irrelevant and a deterrent to academic excellence as teachers teach to the test and ignore everything that is not on it. She encourages educators and parents to develop smaller, self-governed charter schools and other schools of choice as the way to help students excel. For more information, see http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_4_2002/brown_book_review.html; ordering information at http://www.beacon.org.

Individual Employment Rights Primer. ( 1991, Baywood ) A very basic but accessible introduction to the law of individual rights in the work place. Written from the employee's attorney's point of view.

Information on charter schools. ( 1995, October, Columbus, OH: Great Lakes Area Regional Resource Center )

Kentucky School Updates: A Parent/Citizen Guide. ( 2000, Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence ) The state of Kentucky requires that every public school offer a family resource center. Review suggestions for providing support and learning opportunities for your students in this guide.

Key Questions for District Leaders in Creating and Supporting Charter Districts. ( 2002, May, Education Commision of the States ) This brief offers key questions to district leaders as they consider the all-charter district concept.

Key Questions for State Leaders in Creating and Supporting Charter Districts. ( 2002, May, Education Commission of the States ) This brief offers key questions to state leaders as they consider the all-charter district concept.

Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations. This site provides information on how to assess board composition, build a diverse board, find and recruit board members, and build board commitment to the mission.

Leaving Nothing to Chance: Achieving Board Accountability through Risk Management. ( 1999, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

Let's Do the Numbers: Seven Practices for Sound Fiscal Management. The Executive Director of the National Charter Schools Institute offers an examination of seven practices designed to help a charter school accomplish sound fiscal management. These include: establishing internal controls (through policy); monitoring compliance with fiscal policies; developing financial reporting interpretation skills; developing accurate budgets; recognizing red flags; minimizing risk; and hiring an independent auditor. He recommends that every board should understand is that it is ultimately responsible for the school’s finances. Even in schools where the board has contracted the management of the school, the board is still ultimately responsible for the school’s finances.

Looking at Student Work. LSW is an association of individuals and educational organizations that focuses on looking at student work to strengthen connections between instruction, curriculum, and other aspects of school life and students' learning. This association grew from a meeting on "Examining Student Work and School Change" held in Chicago in October 1998, hosted by the Chicago Learning Collaborative and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. The site includes a list of print Resources by many of the participants in LSW that provide more information and protocols for looking at student work, and Web Picks.

Lowering the Overhead While Raising the Roof. ( 2002, May, Rural School and Community Trust ) This publication helps communities reduce the costs of maintaining, building, and renovating good, small schools and includes specific strategies that rural communities have used to reduce the costs of their small schools. It begins by suggesting factors to consider before starting to plan a school facilities project, such as understanding the resistance to small schools that many administrators and legislators may have, and also understanding the importance of examining and questioning state policies. It also provides 13 strategies for reducing costs including the importance of good maintenance and siting and using renovation instead of resorting to new construction. It includes an extensive list of resources for further information on the strategies.

Magnet and Specialized Schools of the Future: A Focus on Change. This book provides advice on the construction of a new building, addition, or renovation of a magnet or charter school. Twelve projects are described, followed by guidance on funding, finding a home for the charter school, designs for autistic students, specialized school design, site design and landscape architecture, acoustics, indoor air quality, sustainable design, and project delivery. A draft charter school operations facilities plan and many references are provided.

Making assessment work for everyone: How to build on student strengths. ( 2000, WestEd ) A companion publication to the REL Improving Classroom Assessment Toolkit, this new module is a self-study guide for teachers. It provides practical information, activities, and resources for selecting, adapting, and developing assessments to promote excellence in each student while honoring their culture(s) experiences and ways of knowing and showing learning. To obtain a copy, please contact Tom Ross (tross@wested.org).

Making Matches that Make Sense: Charter Schools and Comprehensive School Design Organizations. ( 1998, Charter Friends National Network ) This policy paper discusses successes and obstacles to charter schools linking with school design organizations such as Core Knowledge, Montessori, and others.

Making Sense of Charter School Studies: A Reporter's Guide. The National Charter School Research Project, an initiative of the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education, has released a guide to help reporters evaluate the quality of charter school achievement studies. It also can be used to interpret other charter school or general education research. The document presents a list of "critical consumer questions," such as: (1) does the report compare apples to apples; (2) how large and representative is the study's sample and comparison group; (3) does the report look at test scores from one or more than one year; and (4) are the findings overstated. The guide also lists problems with common methods for measuring achievement in charter and traditional schools.

Management Rights. ( 1986, BNA ) This is a standard reference work for those impacted by collective bargaining.

Manual on Employment Discrimination Law and Civil Rights Action in the Federal Courts. ( 1998, West ) Judge Richey's MANUAL gets pulled off the shelf by many federal judges when they are trying to decide a civil rights case involving employment.

Marketing Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations: Mobilize People for Marketing Success. ( 1997, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation )

Massachusetts Charter School Accountability Handbook. ( 1999, Massachusetts Department of Education ) This draft document provides an introduction to the accountability process for charter schools in Massachusetts and details seven steps to follow, from applying for a charter to applying for renewal.

Massachusetts Charter School Handbook. ( 1998, Pioneer Institute ) Though written for a Massachusetts audience, this handbook contains a wealth of practical information and suggestions for charter developers anywhere. Its appendices include numerous sample documents both for schools and authorizers, covering various legal issues, governance bylaws, school and personnel policies, accountability, facilities development, and facility financing.

Massachusetts Charter School Inspection Handbook. ( 1999, Massachusetts Department of Education ) This draft document explains the renewal process for charter schools in Massachusetts and the requisite inspection process.

Merging Money and Mission: A Board Member's Guide to Social Entrepreneurship. ( 1998, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

Minnesota Council of Nonprofits' Management Resources. ( Minnesota Council of Nonprofits ) This website offers a variety of information for boards, including conflict of interest issues, evaluating board of directors, and the relationship between the board of directors and executive director.

Minnesota Primer. The Minnesota Special Education Primer is divided into two parts - a Sponsor Primer and a Director Primer. Each section covers important information related to special education in charter schools during all the life stages of a charter school.

Mobilizing and Motivating Staff to Get Results. ( 2000, Charter Friends National Network ) This resource guide is designed to help charter school developers think creatively about their use of compensation and benefits, recruitment, selection, professional development, staff organization, retention, and performance evaluation to best serve their school. Using the school's mission and strategy as the starting point, this document discusses numerous strategies for finding the right people to work at your school and ways to help the staff you have achieve the results you seek.

Model Personnel Policy. ( 2000, New York Charter School Resource Center ) This manual is intended to serve as a guide for the charter school leader in developing the format and content for their charter school's own personnel manual, and follows the format to be used for a nonprofit organization.

National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. In a collaborative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Programs (OSEP), CAST has established the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum to provide a vision of how new curricula, teaching practices, and policies can be woven together to create practical approaches for improved access to the general curriculum by students with disabilities.

National Charter Schools Conference. The National Charter Schools Conference will be held in Sacramento, February 28-March 3, 2006, in conjunction with the 13th annual California Charter Schools Conference. Online attendee registration & hotel reservations will be available beginning August 15, 2005.

National Charter Schools Week Homepage. The 6th annual National Charter Schools Week (NCSW) will be held May 1-7. This week of celebration is designed to increase the public’s understanding and support for charter schools.  NCSW is once again being organized by the Charter School Leadership Council.  The official NCSW website offers many resources to help organizations and schools prepare for the week. The Leaders Guide, a brochure with creative ideas on how charter leaders can plan for and publicize the week, and a Toolkit for State Associations and Individual Charter Public Schools are available for download. Promotional materials, such as media advisory templates, are offered to charter advocates to help them reach out to the news media, policymakers, business leaders, and the larger community.

National Charter Schools Week Tool Kit for State Associations and Individual Charter Public Schools. ( Charter School Leadership Council ) This toolkit is designed for charter school leaders to help promote charter schools week nationally and enable schools and state associations to craft themes and events that reflect local interests. It includes ideas for events and programs, media strategies, charter fact sheets, and sample press releases.

National Charter Schools Week Toolkit. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has prepared a free online tool kit to help public charter school advocates celebrate charters in their communities in honor of National Charter Schools Week. Tips for planning events, media strategy suggestions, and sample materials including talking points, sample letters, news releases, and fact sheets are provided. While the Toolkit was prepared with National Charter Schools Week in mind, public charter school advocates will find the suggestions for engagement, media tips, and advocacy ideas useful anytime.

National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities. NCEF tracks Hot Topics on key K-12 school facilities issues, including Charter School Facilities Financing . Hot Topics pages include annotated bibliographies with links to full text publications and related Web sites, as well as descriptions of books, studies, reports and journal articles. The Professional Associations and Organizations page links to professional organizations, federal, state and municipal resources, academic research centers, media, and products and services.

National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs. The percentage of English language learners (ELL) being served by charter schools and traditional public schools is approximately the same, however there are some individual communities where the percentage of ELL is much higher in charter schools. This website offers free information products including a large collection of evidence-based research, assessment and accountability, and guidance resources; a weekly e-newsletter of updates and related news; and, an online reference and referral service.

National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education. This collaborative organization advocates for the involvement of parents and families in their children's education.

National Directory of Corporate Public Affairs. ( Columbia Books, Inc. ) Provides reliable, up-to-date information on the public affairs functions of 1,700 major U.S. corporations and descriptions of their PACs, foundations and charitable trusts. The directory also includes an updated membership directory of the Public Affairs Council. Published annually by Columbia Books, Inc. This is a useful tool for charter school's seeking additional funding sources.

National Parent Information Network. This website provides access to research and resources related to parenting and family involvement in education, including a Resource Guide on organizing a successful family center.

National Public Charter Schools Week, May 5-9. National Charter Schools Week will be celebrated May 5-9, 2008. A primary purpose of this annual event is to connect public charter school students, parents, teachers, and leaders to policymakers, so they can experience the schools and the enthusiasm of the people supporting them. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools encourages public charter schools to participate in a dynamic video campaign called "See Us Growing Excellence" - go here for more information.

Navigating Through the Standards Maze. ( 1997, Fall ) This brief provides specific process and technical guidance to charter developers in California and nationally.

NCLB 4 DC Charters. "NCLB 4 D.C. Charters" is a cooperative effort between the DC Public Charter School Board and the DC Board of Education Public Charter School Office, the two authorizers for charter schools in the District of Columbia. It was created to provide technical assistance to D.C. charter schools so they can meet new Title I requirements. The program educates the community about charter schools and NCLB; provides school-based technical academic assistance for schools; and offers systemic training and support for data-driven decision-making.

New Approaches to Disability in the Workplace. ( 1998, IRRA ) This document discusses developments in dealing with work disability.

New Jersey Charter School Resource Center Handbook. ( New Jersey Charter School Resource Center ) This handbook for charter schools in New Jersey offers information on certification, enrollment, laws and regulations, and parent involvement.

New York City Charter Schools Fundraising Guidebook. This guidebook is designed to provide charter school boards and school leaders with detailed instructions on how to establish and manage an ongoing, successful fundraising program. Included are key topics such as how to incorporate fundraising into the school's strategic plan and diversifying funding sources. Several fundraising best practices and examples of successful fundraising plans are also included. While written for New York City Charter school developers and operators, others in the larger charter school community will find it to be a very helpful tool in their fundraising efforts.

No More Nailing Jell-O to Walls: Strategic Planning Made Clear for the Charter School Sector. This document from the National Charter Schools Institute applies the principles of strategic planning to the charter school sector. It examines three core organization processes: the people, the operations, and the business strategy, and views strategic planning as the process of integrating those processes, and harmonizing them with the external environment. The authors lead the readers through several questions in the core areas and provide recommendations on how to integrate planning strategies successfully.

Nonprofit Board Committees. ( 1993, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

North Carolina Charter School Renewal Rubric. ( 2001, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction ) In 2001, North Carolina's Department of Public Instruction adopted a new charter renewal rubric. Requirements for renewal include satisfaction of the state accountability program and compliance in the areas of finance, governance, exceptional children and enrollment. The updated renewal process has several new changes including: schools must be acceptable in all the above categories to receive renewal; renewals are for 5 years; and cited deficiencies in any area require the development and implementation of an correction plan that results in satisfactory improvement. For more information, contact the Department's Office of Charter Schools, at (919) 807-3490.

Nurturing "Green," High Performance Charter Schools Conference. Charter schools with environment-focused and project-based programs are springing up across the nation. In response, the Wisconsin Charter Schools Association (WCSA), Minnesota Association of Charter Schools, Audubon Center of the North Woods, and EdVisions Cooperative and Conserve School are sponsoring a one-day conference on July 13 for developers and operators of "green," environment-focused charter schools. Presenters include charter school leaders and leading environmental educators. For more information, or to join a growing network of people interested in fostering the creation of "green" charter schools, email your name and contact information to sennb@charter.net.

On the Journey to Open a New School: One Step at a Time. This guide offers a detailed review of the functional steps required to start a charter school. It includes numerous sample documents such as: vision/mission statements; research/marketing survey; location/facility identification considerations; summary of facility/space requirements; comprehensive business plan outline (including detailed personnel plan); charter school development and proposal considerations; marketing and fundraising strategies; detailed financial documents; school crisis plan, operations, faculty, and student handbook outlines; administrative forms list; curriculum overview; admissions forms; and academic calendars. It also provides an extensive resource list for new school developers.

Opening Procedures: A Guide for Board of Trustees and Leaders of New Charter Schools. This guidebook is focused on board members and leaders in new Massachusetts charter schools, but much of the information provided could be useful to charter school governing boards in other states. The document provides school leaders with information on hiring, evaluation, and professional development of faculty, and presents guidance to ensure that charter schools have the processes in place to perform due diligence in the responsible management of the school's fiscal affairs. The handbook also identifies sources of additional information that may be useful to new charter schools as they grow from proposal to implementation.

Organizing a Successful Family Center in Your School. ( 1999, National Parent Information Network ) This resource guide discusses the benefits that can result from having a family center in a school, and provides advice on establishing a family center.

Organizing and Managing School Volunteer Programs. ( 1987, National Association of Partners in Education, Inc )

Out of the Box: Facilities Financing Ideas for Charter Schools. ( 1999, June, Charter Friends National Nework ) Designed to help charter school operators find and finance a suitable, affordable facility, this resource guide has dozens of practical ideas drawn from the experiences of charter school pioneers in all parts of the country.

Outline for a Charter School Annual Report. ( DC Public Charter Schools Board ) This outline guides users in how to craft a description of a school, provide details on student performance, and create an audit report.

Parent and Family Involvement. ( North Central Regional Educational Library ) This website offers an impressive range of resources on family and community involvement in the schools, including "Critical Issues" summaries of research on topics including parents centers in schools and establishing collaboratives and partnerships with community based organizations.

Parent Brochure. ( Arizona State Board for Charter Schools ) While created by a state authorizer, this brochure provides broad guidance to families in how to learn about charter schools for their children. It encourages parents to consider their roles in the education marketplace and offers a list of questions families should ask when interested in specific schools. Examples include: What is the school's mission? What is the organizational structure? What is the school's teaching philosophy? The brochure also offers information about charter school basics and includes a list of additional charter school resources for families.

Parent Institute. This organization offers resources for parents on a variety of education-related topics.

Parent Involvement Inventory. ( The North Central Regional Educational Lab ) This inventory assists schools in developing strategies to increase parent, family, and community involvement. The inventory is comprehensive and can be used to determine differences of opinion or different levels of knowledge among parents, and school staff.

Parental Involvement Pledge. ( Project Appleseed ) Project Appleseed has developed the Parental Involvement Pledge in effort to help schools increase the amount of parental involvement in education. It a learning compact in which parents take written personal responsibility for their child's education and pledge to volunteer 10 hours each year in their local public schools. Parents may individually complete the pledge on-line or schools may order a package of them for distribution to the entire school community.

Parental Involvement Report Card. ( Project Appleseed ) Project Appleseed has developed a Parental Involevement Report Card to help parents rate their contributions to their child's success at school. The repord card is available on-line and in print, as part of the Parental Involvement Toolbox.

Parental Involvement Toolbox. ( Project Appleseed ) Project Appleseed has developed this toolbox, containing a master copy of the Parental Involvement Pledge, permission to copy the pledge, suggestions for using the pledge, and a copy of their newsletter, Appleseed Today, to help schools increase parental involvement. You may order and purchase the toolbox on-line.

Parents Network for Better Education. This organization, supported by charter school groups, seeks to unite the parent populations in Southeastern states by providing information and training about their rights in public schools. The goals of this project are to provide parents with the tools they need to understand their state's accountability, their opportunities for charter schools and other public school choice options, services under the No Child Left Behind act, and to generate more choices in school districts and states. The project will be managed by the Center for Education Reform, in partnership with four major statewide groups that focus on parents and public school choices: the South Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools, the Florida Consortium of Charter Schools, Georgia Charter Schools Association, Inc., and North Carolina School Choice, Inc.

Partnership for Family Involvement in Education. This is a good resource for information about building and sustaining family involvement in public and charter schools.

Paying for the Charter Schoolhouse: A Policy Agenda for Charter School Facilities Financing. ( 1999, January, Charter Friends National Network ) Locating and financing facilities has been the most daunting challenge facing many charter schools. This report from the Charter Friends National Network outlines five strategies state policy-makers can pursue to ensure that charter schools can gain access to suitable, high-quality facilities.

Personnel Policies and Practices: Understanding Employment Law. ( 2000, Charter Friends National Network ) Charter schools are in many cases given more freedom to chart their own course in employment relations than are many other public school employers. There remain limits, however, many drawn by law. This guide is designed to help charter schools develop personnel policies and practices that meet federal, state, and local regulations. The employment guide reviews the areas of legal regulation common to all employers but also examines personnel issues that are specific to charter schools. Several online resources are included, such as an employment policy and contract checklist to ensure that you have sound policies on the most critical employment topics.

Planned Giving: A Board Member's Perspective. ( 1999, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

Planning Committee: Shaping Your Future. ( 1997, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

Policy Sampler. ( 2000, National Center for Nonprofit Boards ) This technical assistance package contains a diskette with over 70 policies covering critical areas such as conflict of interest, grievances, sexual harassment, nepotism, confidentiality and more.

Preventing Employment Lawsuits: an Employers' Guide to Hiring, Discipline and Discharge. ( 1994, BNA ) This is an accessible and professional guide to major theories of liability, preventive practices and legal process.

Primer: What You Need to Know About Federal Laws Relevant to Special Education in Charter Schools. This document provides a brief overview of federal education laws and is intended to answer key questions frequently asked by charter leaders, such as which federal laws are most relevant to special education in charter schools?Which federal agency is responsible for overseeing these laws? Do students with disabilities have a federally protected right to attend charter schools?

Primers on Implementing Special Education in Charter Schools. This Web site and Primers provide background information and resources to facilitate the successful inclusion of students with disabilities in charter schools. They are designed to help charter school leaders develop special education programs, provide support for authorizers to better assist schools they charter, and give policy and practice support for those at the state level. Helpful information on special education is available for every life stage of a charter school, from pre-authorization to renewal/non-renewal. In addition to the primers and other special education resources, a State Matrix is provided to highlight various characteristics of the states which have charter school laws.

Principles of Good Practice for Missouri Charter School Sponsor Accountability. ( 2002, The Learning Exchange Charter School Partnership ) These guiding principles are designed to help Missouri charter school sponsors balance individual charter schools' missions and needs with policy guidelines and legal restrictions. The draft principles call for sponsors to carry out several actions to ensure a high level of quality in the state's charter schools. These actions include: ensuring that the charter application review and approval process is meaningful and clearly delineated; establishing an accountability agreement between the sponsor and the school; active reporting and disclosure; and, detailing the parameters of the relationship in the accountability agreement. For more information, contact The Learning Exchange: (816) 751-4116 or (800) 754-4414.

Professional Development. ( North Central Regional Education Lab (NCREL) ) This website offers a compendium of resources about professional development (planning, needs assessment, funding, model programs, etc.).

Professional Development: Learning from the Best. ( NCREL ) Based on the practices of award-winning schools and districts, this is a practical step-by-step guide to designing a professional development program that meets the specific needs of students and faculty.

Project Intersect: How Special Education and Charter Schools Coexist. This federally funded three year study of how special education and charter schools intersect offers a series of reports of how special education is accessed and delivered to children in charters who have disabilities. The project examines several issues, including: (1) how does state charter school legislation, including the authorization and appeal process, influence access to special education and related services; (2) how is special education incorporated in charter school policies and procedures; (3) how do children with disabilities access special education and related services in charter schools; and (4) how are charter schools building their capacity to provide special education? The initiative's 5th and 6th reports, Access and Accountability for Students With Disabilities in California Charter Schools and a Survey of Charter School Authorizers, are now available on the project's website, along with earlier reports. The 7th and final report from the study is expected in summer 2007.

Project SPEDTACS. The SPEDTACS Project was designed to develop resources related to special education for those involved in the development, authorization, implementation and operation of charter schools.

Pros and Cons of Performance-Based Compensation. ( 2000, Milken Family Foundation ) This paper compiles and analyzes the current and historical criticisms of performance-based compensation in K-12 education.

Public Choice: Draft Nonregulatory Guidance. ( 2002, U.S. Department of Education ) The U.S. Department of Education has released a guide to the school choice provisions of the No Child Left Behind law. Questions about the school choice mandate, such as the timing of the option, the eligibility of students, when and how to notify parents, potential conflicts with desegregation orders, and funding are answered. Section F details how students with disabilities should be accommodated under federal requirements on school choice.

Public School of Your Own: Your Guide to Creating and Running a Charter School. ( 1998 ) This book focuses on establishing and operating charter schools which meet the needs of parents, staff, and students; fulfill legal requirements; and achieve financial stability. For ordering information, contact Adams-Pomeroy Press at P.O. Box 26, Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80034-0026; Phone: (303) 216-2546. Fax: (303) 216-1099.

Public Sector Employment in a Time of Transition. ( 1996, Industrial Relations Research Association ) This research volume issued by the Industrial Relations Research Association reviews trends in different aspects of public sector employment and samples some of the comparative literature on law and practices in other nations.

Raising the Standard: An Eight-Step Action Guide for Schools and Communities. ( 1999, Corwin Press, Inc )

Reaching All Families: Creating Family-Friendly Schools. This publication is designed for school administrators & teachers in their efforts to involve parents & families as more active participants in their children's education. This resource takes the reader through the steps school people can take, e.g. preparing handbooks, carrying out home visits, how to do conferences, "positive phone calls," and parent workshops.

Reinventing your Board. A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Policy Governance. ( 1997, Jossey-Bass ) The authors illustrate effective board decision making, show how to craft useful policies, and offer practical advice on such matters as setting the agenda, monitoring CEO performance, and defining the board role. Step-by-step instructions and sample policies are included.

Report to the Community - Charter School Facilities Requirements: A Guide for Developers, Brokers and Landlords. This report outlines the challenges charter schools face in finding facilities and offers tips and strategies for securing school buildings. Charter school facilities' fundamentals, economic considerations, and legislated requirements are explained. The document also details how developers, brokers, and landlords can benefit from partnerships with charter schools.

Resolving Drug Issues. ( 1993, BNA ) This volume provides the nitty-gritty on dealing with drug abuse in the work place.

Responding to Hate at School. ( 1999/2000 ) This is a 64-page step-by-step guide to help administrators, counselors and teachers react effectively whenever bias, prejudice or hate strikes. Free copies are available individually or in bulk upon written request.

School and Family Partnerships: Surveys and Summaries. ( Center on Families, Communities, Schools & Children's Learning ) This resource includes highly detailed surveys for teachers to assess levels of parent involvement and teachers' beliefs about parent involvement in general and at their school; and surveys that ask similar things of parents. The surveys are followed by a section on how to summarize the data they generate, including interpreting the data and sharing the results with the respondents.

School Development Program. This organization provides a well-known education model that seeks to mobilize all available resources, including families, to support student learning.

School Reform Handbook: How to Improve your Schools. ( 1998, Center for Education Reform ) The School Reform Handbook tells hundreds of real-life stories about schools that highlight the experiences of parents, teachers, and children.

Self-assessment for Nonprofit Governing Boards. ( 1996, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

Seven Strategies for Success: School-Business Partnerships. Business is becoming increasingly involved in charter and other public schools. The Daniels Fund has researched why some school partnerships are more effective than others. The report highlights seven strategies for successful partnerships based on the findings. These include: ensure student learning and achievement are the focus of every partnership; create a meaningful process for communicating about the program and recognizing the contributions of business partners; and, regularly monitor and evaluate each partnership and the overall program. Best practices, success tips, and barriers to avoid are also included in this online guide.

Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America. This kit for middle and upper levels includes a 40-minute video; a 128-page illustrated text, "Us and Them;" and a teacher's guide. It is free, one per school, university department, community or religious organization, upon written request on letterhead from principal, department chair, director or leader.

Shaping Positive Cultures in Charter Schools. ( 2000, Wisconsin Center for Education Research ) "One of the most important and powerful elements of an effective and successful school is its positive culture. In a school with a well defined and shared focus on student learning, staff and students are more likely to work toward the specific goals and mission of the school. When students, teachers, and parents -- the key stakeholders in the school's success -- have a strong sense of community and commitment to the school, they are more likely to work collectively toward the mission of the school (author)." This online article provides several strategies to help charter school leaders build strong and positive school cultures.

Sharing ideas and practices: A handbook for charter schools. ( 2000, NEA ) This handbook is designed for educators in public charter schools and other public schools who are interested in fostering ongoing communication and sharing among public schools, regardless of label.

Show Me the Money: Tips and Resources for Successful Grant Writing. This online guidebook provides practical tips to help grant writers get the grants they need for their education programs.

Small Business Administration. ( 1997 ) This web site contains basic information such as a helpful Business Plan Outline. Though charter schools' needs differ from small businesses, many concepts are similar.

So You Want to Start a Charter School?. ( 1996, Rand Center on Reinventing Public Education ) Please see the abstract for this resource provided by ERIC:ED425260.

Sourcebook for Organizers of Charter School Planning Workshops. ( 1998, Charter Friends National Network )

Special Education and Charter Schools Workshop DVD. This two DVD set of a four hour California Charter Schools Association workshop is designed to address key issues related to charter schools and special education. It discusses the following: who qualifies for special education; which special education students must charter schools serve; how to identify special education students; the Individual Education Plan (IEP); and the charter school’s responsibility in meeting the needs of special education students. "Special Education and Charter Schools: It Doesn't Have To Be Square Pegs and Round Holes" is available for a fee from the Association.

Standards for Staff Development. ( National Staff Development Council ) The National Staff Development Council has established these national standards aimed at giving schools, districts and states direction in what constitutes quality staff development for all educators to address these needs. The organization's online site offers a complete list of standards, and a self-assessment and planning tool.

Starting Small: Teaching Tolerance in Preschool and the Early Grades. This teacher training kit for early childhood educators includes a 58-minute video and five copies of a 250-page text focusing on seven exemplary tolerance education programs. Copies are free, one per school, upon written request on letterhead from elementary principal, day care director or teacher education department chair.

Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations. ( 1997, John Wiley & Sons, Inc )

Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. ( 1995, Jossey Bass Publishers )

Strategic Planning Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations. ( 1997, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation )

Strengthen School-Based Management by Chartering All Schools. ( 1996, WestEd ) This publication brings together two important reform strategies - site-based management and charter schools - while combining the theoretical and the practical. The author not only persuasively argues the case for chartering every school, he deals with nuts and bolts issues such as insurance and collective bargaining. Any school or community team that is in the process of setting up a charter school, or simply considering the option, will find useful tools within these pages.

Summer Institute for Charter School Leadership. The Peabody Professional Institute at Vanderbilt University in Nashville is offering a Summer Institute for Charter School Leadership, July 13-17. This intensive one-week program is designed for individuals and teams who lead and manage public charter schools. It is designed to enhance participants' ability to make good choices for their schools grounded in theory and supported by data. Individuals selected to participate in the Institute will be recognized with the title "Summer Fellow of Peabody College."

Survival Guide for Charter Schools, FY 1997-98. ( 1997 ) Please see the abstract for this resource provided by ERIC:ED408656.

Survival Guide for Charter Schools. FY 1998-1999. ( 1998, North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction ) This guide familiarizes charter school personnel with services offered by the Division of School Business and the reporting requirements of the division. It also offers information on the Division's five sections: School Finance, Federal Programs, Reporting and Auditing, Salary Administration, and Statistical Research. To purchase a copy, you may contact Linda McLaughlin in the Publications Office at North Carolina Department of Public Schools, 301 N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh, NC 27601. (919) 715-1018. The FY 1997-1998 edition is available through ERIC.

Take Me On A Reading Adventure, A Literacy Guide For America's Charter Schools. ( 2002, America's Charter School Finance Corporation ) This guide for charter developers and leaders provides assistance in developing high-quality reading programs. The guide profiles nine charter schools that have implemented reading programs resulting in significant student achievement, and also provides information and resources on how children learn to read, teaching strategies and faculty development, and building family involvement with reading. The Guide was created by America's Charter School Finance Corporation with assistance from The Center for Education Reform and other charter organizations.

Taking a Closer Look: A Guide to Online Resources on Family Involvement. The Harvard Family Research Project has compiled and categorized recent resources about family involvement, including resources about parenting practices to support children’s learning and development, home–school relationships, parent leadership development, and collective engagement for school improvement and reform. The guide represents the work of 126 national organizations, as well as many state and local organizations whose family involvement initiatives have gained a national reach in terms of training activities, research, and program replication. Charter school founders, leaders, and teachers can use it to find resources to strengthen family–school–community partnerships. The guide is designed to help inspire capacity building and provide ideas for adapting family involvement activities and resources for more effective and relevant practice.

Teacher Compensation Project. ( Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison ) This website provides numerous research reports on new ways of compensating teachers.

Team Up for Kids! How Schools Can Support Family Involvement in Education. This resource outlines strategies for schools to use to promote family involvement in education. Suggestions are offered on how to: learn to communicate better; encourage parental participation in school improvement efforts; involve parents in decision making; make parents feel welcome; & use technology to link parents to the classroom.

TESL: Lessons. This page, maintained by the Internet TESL Journal for teachers of English as a second language, offers a comprehensive list of links to individual lesson plans and activities, many previously published in journals. It covers all levels and ages, including links for teaching techniques, tips, and strategies.

The Answer Key: How to Plan, Develop and Finance Your Charter School Facility. This free guide offers charter school operators step-by-step assistance in planning, evaluating and implementing facilities projects. Helpful worksheets, including needs assessments, budgets, and balance sheets are included. The document offers advice at all key stages of facilities development, from the concept phase through financing the project to completion of construction.

The Challenges for Charter Schools: Replicating Success. This brief, coauthored by Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute and Monica Higgins of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, examines ways high-performing public charter school networks can grow quickly while maintaining quality. The authors highlight potential pitfalls of "simply copying a recipe out of an acclaimed cookbook" when growing charter networks and offer organizers suggestions on how they can expand quickly and successfully, including creating entrepreneurial roles within the company and building external social capital.

The Community Collaboration Manual. ( 1993, The National Assembly )

The Five Dysfunctions of Charter School Boards. This document explores the dysfunctions found in public charter school boards and offers solutions for improving performance. One common dysfunction is a board that attempts to manage the day-to-day operations of the school, rather than focusing on governance. The author recommends that the board should make clear the outcomes desired, establish (through policies) the boundaries in which the outcomes are to occur, and then hold the management accountable by evaluating performance. Another dysfunction is the failure of the board to constantly improve its own performance. The author recommends that boards devote time to participating in professional development programs, discussing important books and articles, and staying aware of charter school trends and state and federal law.

The Legal Obligations of Nonprofit Boards: A Workbook for Board Members. ( 1997, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

The New ESEA: A Primer for Policy Makers. ( 2002, Center for Education Reform ) The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires all public schools to show yearly academic progress and make achievement gains on tests approved by each State and benchmarked against national assessments. CER's New ESEA page provides basic questions and answers to help schools and districts put in place systems that meet these new Federal demands.

The Nonprofit Board's Guide to Bylaws: Creating a Framework for Effective Governance. ( National Center for Nonprofit Boards ) This publication contains advice on the pros and cons of common bylaw language, a checklist of elements bylaws should contain as well as sample language. A diskette is available with 11 complete sample bylaws that can be easily adapted to meet your needs.

The State Testing Program for Ohio and How It Works: A Primer for Charter Schools. This guide for charter schools in Ohio examines the roles and responsibilities of schools under the state's new accountability system. It details what charter schools need to know to effectively administer tests and how they should collect and report testing data.

Title I Workshop Q&A. This transcript is from the Q&A session from the workshop on Title I allocations to charter schools.

To Go Forward, Retreat. ( 1999, National Center for Nonprofit Boards ) This pubication includes many practical suggestions and ideas for planning and conducting successful board retreats.

Tools for Accountability Project. The Tools for Accountability Project is one part of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Its mission is to collect, evaluate and disseminate strategies and materials that will assist schools, districts and their communities as they take stock of their performance, make improvements, and track their progress. The site includes a Reading Room and an excellent list of Resources describing organizations and networks that work with schools and have particular expertise in the use of accountability tools. The report on Using Data for School Improvement is quite helpful.

Tools for Marketing Your Education Outreach Program.

Tracking Your School's Success: A Guide to Sensible Evaluation. ( 1992 ) This book, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), and intended to serve as a guide specifically for the needs of site-based managed schools, features typical costs associated with assessments, sample surveys and data-gathering instruments, guidelines for creating graphs and charts, and an example of an effective parent newsletter. See the ASCD publications list for ordering information.

Trustee Handbook: A Guide to Effective Governance for Independent School Boards, 7th Edition. ( National Association of Independent Schools ) This guide focuses on the greatly changed nature and increased responsibilities of independent school trusteeship in recent years, with emphasis on the duties of boards and the responsibilities of individual trustees. Includes annotated principles of good practice, resources, and case studies.

Unchartered Waters: The Handbook for Operating a Charter School in New Jersey. ( 2000, New Jersey Charter School Resource Center ) The book offers new and experienced directors practical guidance and reproducible forms on a variety of topics, such as staff evaluations, data collection, public relations, and discipline. Call 973-621-6631 ext 201 and request a order form or, send your order information and a check or money order made payable to "NJISI" to: New Jersey Institute for School Innovation 303-309 Washington Street, 5th Floor Newark, NJ 07102

Understanding Achievement Tests: A Guide for School Administrators. ( 1989 ) Please see the abstract for this resource provided by ERIC:ED314426.

Understanding Nonprofit Financial Statements: A Primer for Board Members. ( 1996, National Center for Nonprofit Boards )

Underwriting Loans to Charter Schools. ( 1999, National Community Capital Association ) This publication, for sale from the National Community Capital Association, offers an in-depth analysis of the operations, real estate, and political risks of lending to charter schools. It also includes an overview of charter schools and tips for structuring deals.

Urgent Message: Families Crucial to School Reform. ( 1997, Center for Law and Education ) This resource addresses parent and family involvement as a crucial component of school reform efforts. Includes many examples of successful parent involvement initiatives.

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform. Weaving Gender Equity is an initiative of TERC, a reserch and development organization based in Massachusetts. The Weaving Gender Equity web site contains a wealth of useful information relating to the topic of equity in education, including a comprehensive list of electronic resources, a page of research articles, and a page of links to other organizations addressing the issue of educational equity. WGE also posts a comprehensive resource guide that provides information on equity not only in general terms but also in areas related to standards-based mathematics.

Web Seminar: Financing Charter Schools. The Education Commission of the States has made available a replay of a webcast that presents data and analysis to help state policymakers and other education leaders understand the issues and the policy options states have regarding charter school financing. Users can simply login and view the web seminar at their leisure.

Webcast: Leave Nothing on the Table -- the Art of Skillful Negotiation. Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a nonprofit community development organization that assists charter schools, has made a webcast available which focuses on developing negotiation skills. The webcast provides guidance in how to deal with contractors and professional service providers, as well as purchasing supplies, meeting with community members, and collaborating with staff and other stakeholders. It is designed to include real on-the-ground examples and demonstrate both the practice and the art of preparing for and conducting skillful negotiations.

Webcasts: Getting Ready for Construction and Creating a Dynamic ED-Board Chair Partnership. The Organizational Development Institute of LISC will offer two webcasts next week on "Prepping Your Site: Getting Ready for Construction" and "How to Create a Dynamic ED - Board Chair Partnership." On December 19 and 20, LISC will provide an interactive forum for discussion among industry experts, as well as national and local practitioners. LISC provides these webcasts, in partnership with KnowledgePlex, free of charge as a support and training service to community development practitioners nationwide. Anyone with access to the Internet and a telephone can participate in the Experts Online live events from his/her own desk at the scheduled time (2-3:30 each day). Participants will be able to hear the expert(s) speak, view the corresponding visual presentation in real time, and pose written or oral questions to the speaker(s) during the event.

What it takes to start a Pennsylvania charter school: A guide for applicants. ( 1996, Santa Monica, CA: RAND )

Working Without a Safety Net: How Charter School Leaders Can Best Survive on the High Wire. Drawing from a six-state survey, this report finds, like traditional public school principals, public charter school directors often come to their positions from other jobs in education and with training from schools of education. Public charter school leaders, however, tend to be younger and newer to leadership positions; many have only a few years of experience in school administration. To meet the needs of public charter school directors, the authors call for a comprehensive pre-service and in-service training and support system. Their recommendations include: national organizations should expand public charter-specific training programs and support meaningful internships; states and cities should provide peer-mentoring opportunities that will allow new leaders to learn from the experienced; at the school level, directors should distribute certain administrative responsibilities, either with others in the school or through participation in management organizations; and public charter boards should prepare their schools to survive future leadership transitions.

Youth Build Grant. The U.S. Department of Labor soon will award $47 Million to various community organizations under the Youth Build program. The initiative provides education and training to high risk youth, giving them tools to compete in today’s quickly changing job market. This alternative education program provides a path to higher education in addition to tools for immediate work in high demand fields such as construction. Additional information is available online. Applications are due by January 15, 2009.