"Viewpoint" is a series of articles written by leaders in charter school authorizing and the education reform movement. The series is meant to foster thoughtful discussion and idea exchange on current topics and emerging trends in the sector. This paper examines the various policy and implementation levers available to inject affirmative…

Charter schools have moved from being widely viewed as a marginal force in public education reform to taking on a central role in our national, state, and local debates around improving education. And a growing number of policymakers--including superintendents, mayors, governors, and even U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan--are using…

The Internet has had a profound effect on everyone's lives, work, politics, and commerce--and increasingly, on the schools. Virtual schools have arrived, creating new opportunities for students, and also a set of challenges to the notions about schooling and the policies that govern public education. The potential application of technology in…

This report provides essential new information on the relationship between the location of and enrollment in Denver public schools that meet the 2009 School Performance Framework (SPF) standards. Funded by the National Association of Charter School authorizers (NACSA), this research is designed primarily to identify and highlight those areas with…

Monitoring and evaluating whether a charter school is in compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and performing financially, organizationally, and academically requires the authorizer to examine a host of information about an individual school. Some of this information is reported by the school itself; vehicles such as self-reports,…