This report documents how education "quarterbacks" (formerly known as harbormasters) have supported governance reform in three cities, and why and how they were effective. This exploration of why districts need governance reform and how to catalyze and implement it focuses on the following questions: (1) Why did the education…

As charter school authorizers and states have increased performance expectations and grown less hesitant to close failing schools, "authorizer shopping" has emerged as a growing threat to overall charter school quality. Authorizer shopping happens when a charter school chooses or changes its authorizer specifically to avoid…

In the past quarter-century, charter schools have grown from a ragtag insurgency into a serious force in American K-12 education, serving as the public education provider for nearly three million children across the country. But this nationwide growth has spread unevenly across U.S. cities. In most places, urban districts have successfully…

In this article, Bryan C. Hassel reviews the growing charter school sector and how State Boards of Education (SBEs) and Stated Education Agencies (SEAs) have some degree of responsibility for this growing set of schools. He examines the mixed bag of theories about how to improve public education in the United States and asks why charters? Hassel…

Across the United States, a movement to create a new kind of public school--"autonomous district schools"--is giving districts the freedoms charter schools receive. Like charter schools, autonomous district schools are freed from innovation-inhibiting state and district policies, allowing talented educators to make academic and…

This issue brief is part of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers' (NACSA's) "Cyber Series," which addresses issues in policy and practice that relate to authorizing online and blended charter schools. This brief aims to improve authorizer understanding and oversight of blended charter schools, which combine digital…

Emerging as one of the fastest growing demographic groups among school children in the country, English Learners (ELs) constituted 10 percent of public school students in the United States in 2010-11. Research and practice suggest that greater family engagement with schools can be a critical lever for ensuring the academic success of these…

In 2005, the Task Force on Charter School Quality and Accountability issued "Renewing the Compact," a position statement for the charter school sector that presented recommendations for achieving the goals of growth and quality. This report evaluates the sector's progress on those goals and recommends bold actions to capitalize on its…

New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO) commissioned this guide, in collaboration with the Louisiana Recovery School District and the Tennessee Achievement School District, to meet the Investing in Innovation (i3) requirement that grantees disseminate the lessons of their work. To create this guide, NSNO worked with Public Impact to build on prior…

English Learners (ELs) constitute one of the fastest growing demographic groups among school children in the United States, with the number of ELs in K-12 public schools increasing by about 14% over the seven-year period from 2002-03 to 2010-11. This rapid growth in ELs has coincided with the growth in charter schools. Although charter schools…

Drawing on deep expertise and diverse experiences in the sector, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) and the Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) have collaborated to identify a set of key policies and practices that could dramatically accelerate the replication and growth of high-performing charter schools and charter…

Autonomy is a key component of the charter school concept. By allowing charter schools to have autonomy over decisions concerning finance, personnel, scheduling, curriculum and instruction, states have enabled many of these schools to produce stellar results for their students. This issue brief explores autonomy at five excellent charter schools…

Though controversy rages about the overall contribution of charter schools to U.S. education reform, few doubt that a subset of charter schools has achieved extraordinary results with disadvantaged students. Relative to the enormous need for quality education, the number of children served by the best charter schools is far too low. Numerous…

This guide provides users with a step by step approach to restructuring, from organizing a district team and assessing the district's capacity to govern restructuring decisions to conducting a school-by-school analysis and implementing a restructuring plan. The text of the guide is supplemented with templates, checklists, and other practical…

Thirty years ago, the Connecticut Supreme Court forced our state to take stock of its system for funding schools. Our poorest towns had thousands of dollars less per child to spend. Today, our poorest districts spend roughly the same as our richest, but Connecticut's poor children still score far below their wealthy peers. Our school finance…