Extractions: Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington DC West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming School Name or District
Extractions: Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington DC West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming School Name or District Home Compare Schools My School List Back to School ... About Us - denotes premium content Sign In Print Email School ... Students Ratings and Alerts Parent Reviews Principal's View Woodson (Carter G.) Public Charter School Grades: 3-12 Type: charter Enrollment: 396 3333 N Bond Ave. Fresno, CA 93726 Fresno County
Extractions: Related Links A Sad Charter School Story. (12/3) In the case of K12's California charter schools and the Indio Charter School, these California attendance regulations defeat the spirit of the charter-school movement. The point of a charter-school contract is that school operators have the flexibility to try something different in exchange for accountability. Full text. Workplace Charter Schools: Florida Blazes the Trail. Examines the progress made by the nation's first satellite charter school and explores recent developments. Full Text News Release Satellite Charter Schools: Addressing The School-Facilities Crunch Through Public-Private Partnerships. Reveals how public-private partenerships are helping overcome school-facilities shortages and helping foster the charter school reform revolution. Full Text News Release More Info Charter School Innovations: Keys to Effective Charter Reform.
News&features - January 18, 2001 NO CLASS OPERATION, california S RADICAL charterschool EXPERIMENT said thatone2ones charters did not meet the standards I would expect of a school. http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2001-01-18/cover.asp
Extractions: Horizon, a public charter school, would support her in teaching her son at home, and not only would it be free, Horizon would provide her with everything she neededtextbooks, tutoring, a computer, Internet access, even paper and pencils. She could select from a bounty of teaching aids and services, and no one would tell her what to teach or how to teach it. She could even provide the kind of moral and religious instruction that would be considered unconstitutional in a regular school. Although auditing standards have been tightened, exactly what happens to these funds is hard to track, because charter schools have not been held to public-records laws. And no official statewide effort is in place to provide quality control or regular oversight. Photo By Noel Neuburger
CHARTER SCHOOL LAWS: MOTIVATORS OR BARRIERS charter schools are intended to offer highstandards alternative schools In california, charter schools are exempt from all state laws pertaining to http://ccvi.wceruw.org/ccvi/pub/newsletter/Spring2000_CharterSch/4.htm
Extractions: MOTIVATORS OR BARRIERS No two states' laws governing charter schools are the same. They appear to be customized combinations of political realities and education ideals. Because these varied laws reflect the attitudes and needs of the specific population a charter school will serve and the fiscal circumstances of the state, some laws limit the number of charter schools that will be approved, how independent they will be, and how long they will be allowed to operate. On one hand, the law may give the charter school total freedom from state regulations but provide no start-up funds. On the other hand, the law may provide start-up funds but constrain freedom in staffing by requiring collective bargaining and state certification of all teachers. Charter schools are intended to offer high-standards alternative schools within a district and to enable parents, teachers, and administrators to design a different school, a school free to adopt new ways that lead to high student achievement. Thus, ideally, the laws should create schools that have the freedom to organize governance, management, curriculum, and instruction in creative ways and that have control over adequate finances. Legislation in some states does little more than permit charter schools (such as in Alabama or Wyoming), while in others it provides support and encouragement (such as in Wisconsin and Minnesota).
California's Coalition For Adequate School Housing Letter Regarding Proposition 39 charter school Regulations is the responsibilityof the charter school based upon district standards and practices. http://www.cashnet.org/news/article.esiml?id=431
Extractions: Charters and school choice have entered their second generation and are progressing into the mainstream. The first generation was very high profile and often politically charged and divisive; nevertheless, the past two decades have left charters and school choice a vital part of the education reform matrix. Lessons from charter schools are extremely valuable in the education reform efforts so important to our children. While the exchange between charters and districts and charters and policy-makers at all levels is crucial, this exchange has often been hampered by philosophical and practical divisions, both within the charter community and between chartered institutions and their organizations and other public entities. For charters to realize their potential, divisiveness must be supplanted with dialogue leading to a thoughtful policy agenda designed to maximize effectiveness in the education marketplace.
Charter Resources Catching the Wave Lessons from california s charter schools View the Principlesand standards for Quality charter school Authorizing, http://csi.boisestate.edu/CharterResources.htm
Extractions: Contact Us Upcoming Charter School Conferences The Performance Institute's Charter School Performance Management Conference , October 17-19 San Diego, California NACSA 2005 Annual Conference October 24-25, 2005 Denver, Colorado Colorado League of Charter Schools 12th annual Colorado Charter Schools Conference , October 27-28, 2005 Lakewood, Colorado SAVE THE DATE: National Charter Schools Conference February 28 - March 3, 2006 Sacramento, California Laws and Rules State Board of Education rules governing Idaho charter schools (PDF) The Rules of the Public Charter School Commission (PDF) Title 33 Chapter 52 Idaho Public School Legislation (PDF)
Extractions: In June, home schooling parents in Santa Clara County received a mailing from the county office of education. The cover letter explained that a proposal for a new charter school was under consideration and asked the parents to complete the enclosed survey to assist the department in determining what services families might be interested in receiving. The survey, which could be completed anonymously, asked routine questions that Home School Legal Defense Association has seen on similar questionnaires: Why are you home schooling? What kind of support do you need? What are your child's academic strengths and weaknesses? Would you allow home visits? Can your child use e-mail to communicate and complete assignments? Can your child do research on the Internet? What grade levels would you need served?
Extractions: November 2000 Charter School Equity Issues: Focus on Minority and At-Risk Students by Lucretia Peebles, Ph.D. Charter schools are among the latest innovations aimed at expanding educational opportunity for our nations students. Enthusiastically embraced by parents, the public, and politicians, the number of these schools has grown at a surprising rate since Minnesota became the first state to enact legislation allowing their implementation in 1991. A closer look, however, suggests that enthusiasm be tempered by caution. This policy brief is concerned with equity issues at charter schools that serve predominantly minority or at-risk students. The purpose of this brief is to assist policymakers in addressing these critical concerns. Early opponents of charter schools feared they would benefit middle and upper class, mainly white students and leave behind minority and at-risk students. In many cases, the opposite has occurred: the increasing enrollment of African American, Hispanic, Native American, and at-risk students in charter schools is a strong indicator of the popularity of this form of educational choice for disadvantaged populations. According to enrollment statistics in "The State of Charter Schools: Fourth Year Report" (U.S. Department of Education, 2000), there are approximately 1700 charter schools in the United States, serving more than 350,000 students in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Charter schools in three-fifths of these states enrolled a higher percentage of African American and Hispanic students than white students. Overall, charter schools enrolled a larger percentage of students of color than did public schools. These schools also served a slightly higher percentage (39 percent) of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch than all public schools in 27 charter states (p. 34).
Assessments charter school issues, the sections of their sites devoted to standards and These are the reports prepared by the california charter school Resource http://www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/school-change/assessme.htm
Extractions: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WITH SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT EXAMPLES The authors urge those seeking more examples of standards, outcomes and assessments to check three major web sites, which in turn have links to many excellent resources. These web sites are first, the web site created by the National Center on Educational Outcomes: www.coled.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/onlinedefault.html , second, the federal charter school web site: www.uscharterschools.org , and the web site created by the national Charter Friends Network: www.charterfriends.org . Although the second and third sites focus on charter school issues, the sections of their sites devoted to standards and assessment issues will be extremely useful to anyone in a school searching for information about how to create or adopt standards, and how to assess students progress toward those standards. The authors wish to point to four reports, included in the References Cited section, which are especially useful. These are the reports prepared by the California Charter School Resource Center, the Massachusetts Charter School Resource Center, the Charter Friends National Network and the Northwest Regional Laboratory. For additional information focused on particular areas, the authors suggest the following (admittedly incomplete) list of resources. Academic Standards
EdSource Online The adoption of more rigorous academic standards for all students, Check outour 2004 report, charter Schools in california An Experiment Coming of Age http://www.edsource.org/
Extractions: Subscribe to receive publications Support us Our funders ... Contact us California currently uses two different systems to gauge the quality of its schools, the federal measure of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and the state's Academic Performance Index (API). But a school can do well on one measure and not on the other, a situation that is creating serious problems for schools and the state. This report summarizes similarities and differences between the state and federal approaches to accountability, describes a new proposal to unify them into one system, and highlights key related issues. Order online.
California Charter Schools Association The mission of the california charter Schools Association is to increase all charter schools in reaching excellence through meeting quality standards. http://www.charterassociation.org/cnt_quality_statements.asp
Extractions: From the moment a charter school petition is approved, its leaders enter into a pact, providing accountability for high student achievement in exchange for autonomy from onerous state regulations and requirements. Our ability as individuals and as a movement to live up to that bargain will determine the strength and sustainability of the charter school movement. It is not enough for charter schools to be merely as good (or as bad) as non-charter public schools, we must be better. We owe it to the students to be better. Moreover, all across the state, charter schools are proving that there is no excuse for schools that fail our students. When high expectations, strong teaching practices, supportive learning environments, and fiscal accountability are aligned, students achieve. We can and must be that beacon of hope and proof that democracy must not give up on public educationthat all students will achieve if we teach them. The Charter Schools Act of 1992 provided opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure as a method to: 1) improve pupil learning, 2) increase learning opportunities for all pupils, 3) encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods, 4) create professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site, 5) provide expanded choices in the types of opportunities that are available within the public school system, and 6) hold schools accountable for meeting measurable pupil outcomes.
Extractions: April 14, 2005 O'Connell, County Superintendents Referring Findings to Law Enforcement; O'Connell to Convene Workgroup to Consider Additional Legal Remedies http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cs/ac/documents/csccaaudit.pdf The investigation of CCA and its operations exposed the misuse of millions of dollars in state funds resulting from unreasonably high and improper expenditures to a private management company and other subsidiary companies that were owned and operated by the same owner and operator of CCA, as well as an inappropriate claiming of state funds, conflicts of interest, and general lack of fiscal safeguards. In addition the audit found that CCA had improperly converted some private schools to CCA school satellite sites; some federal grant funds were not used in accordance to regulation; and some independent study programs were not in compliance with state requirements.
Charter Schools Development Center california StateLevel standards and Assessments. While charter schools mayeffectively ignore national-level standards at this time if they so choose, http://www.cacharterschools.org/standardsmaze.html
Extractions: Home Charter School Resources Accountability and Assessment Standards Maze Making Charters Work A series of "how to" briefing papers providing strategies for charter school developers The Charter Schools Development Center Brief #4, Fall 1997 NAVIGATING THROUGH THE STANDARDS MAZE Editor's Note This briefing paper is the first in a series published by the Charter Schools Development Center about charter school accountability. It addresses one of the most difficult, important tasks which charter school developers must undertake: developing clear, measurable performance standards for their students. This is the fourth brief published by the Center to advise charter school developers, operators, charter-granting agencies, and other concerned parties to better understand California's charter school reform efforts. While tailored to address California's charter schools, many of the fundamental concepts will be of interest to readers in every state with charter legislation and schools. California's Charter Act clearly states that charter school developers must include measurable "pupil outcomes" as a required element of their charters. However, many charter developers and operators are finding it extremely challenging, at times overwhelming, to determine what those pupil outcomes will look like in practice. This brief suggests how schools can reconcile standards recommendations and related assessment requirements from the national, state, district, and school levels to create realistic, appropriate performance outcomes for their students.
Extractions: Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education New York NY. How Well Are Charter Schools Serving Urban and Minority Students? ERIC/CUE Digest, Number 119. Charter schools have become popular because many people believe that they can provide a high quality education to public school students without the regulatory constraints imposed on conventional public schools. Charters are created and managed by an entity comprised of parents and/or teachers, community and/or business leaders, non-profit organizations, or for-profit businesses. The District of Columbia and 25 states now have laws permitting these independent public schools to be chartered by school districts or the state Department of Education, and thus they can receive public monies for their operation. The autonomy granted the schools varies widely, however. Urban areas are particularly fertile ground for the development of charter schools because there is a great need to find ways to improve education in the face of poor resources and overcrowding in the public schools. However, since most urban students are either disadvantaged or members of minority groups, there are concerns that charter schools may "cream off" the students identified as easiest to teach (frequently white or middle class children), leaving the remainder to founder in arguably inferior conventional public schools.
Charter Schools. ERIC Digest charter schools in california, Colorado, and Minnesota have had their contracts Federation of Teachers urges that charter schools adopt high standards, http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/charter.htm
Extractions: Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management Eugene OR. Charter Schools. ERIC Digest, Number 118. In seven short years, the U.S. charter-school movement has produced about 800 schools in 29 states and the District of Columbia, enrolling over 100,000 students. Charter schools reflect their founders' varied philosophies, programs, and organizational structures, serve diverse student populations, and are committed to improving public education. Charter schools are freed of many restrictive rules and regulations. In return, these schools are expected to achieve educational outcomes within a certain period (usually three to five years) or have their charters revoked by sponsors (a local school board, state education agency, or university). WHAT EXPLAINS CHARTER SCHOOLS' GROWING POPULARITY? Some members of the public are dissatisfied with educational quality and school district bureaucracies (Jenkins and Dow 1996). Today's charter-school initiatives are rooted in the educational reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, from state mandates to improve instruction, to school-based management, school restructuring, and private/public-choice initiatives. Many people, President Clinton among them, see charter schools, with their emphasis on autonomy and accountability, as a workable political compromise and an alternative to vouchers. The charter approach uses market principles while insisting that schools be nonsectarian and democratic. For founders, starting a brand-new school is an exhausting, yet exhilarating experience that "stirs the creative and adaptive juices of everyone involved" (Ray Budde 1996).
National Association Of Charter School Authorizers - Consult our Critical Design Issues for charter school Authorizers, NACSA iscollaborating with leading california authorizers to translate the http://www.charterauthorizers.org/
Extractions: National Association of Charter School Authorizers Help Students Displaced by Katrina . It is inspiring to see so many people stepping forward to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. NACSA has joined these efforts by launching a national online survey of available spaces in charter schools and any public, private and parochial schools. Authorizers throughout the country have been asked to invite each of their schools to complete this short online survey that identifies the number of spaces currently available in their school as well as spaces that could be available quickly if the school receives some additional assistance (such as preparing classrooms or increasing the enrollment cap in their charter). NACSA Annual Conference . Registration is now open for our 2005 conference on October 24-25, 2005 in Denver, CO Building Excellence in Charter School Authorizing . Follow the progress of our federally-funded program of research and technical assistance in support of quality charter school authorizing. View the 2005 Revised Edition of the Principles and Standards for Quality Charter School Authorizing Read the latest in our series of ... Steering the Course for Success: Authorizers and Effective Charter School Governance . Read the first of our Policy Briefs NCLB Title I Accountability and Charter School Authorizer Obligations Consult our Critical Design Issues for Charter School Authorizers , which guides the development of comprehensive authorizer practices through a series of
CANEC Press Release - National Accreditation Program By holding charter school operators to the highest levels of performance, CANEC member schools that do not meet standards for accreditation will be http://www.canec.org/PRhtml/accreditationprogram.html
Extractions: CANEC teams with respected WASC to launch a new accreditation program for California charter schools Sacramento, CA - This fall, the California Network of Educational Charters (CANEC) will become the first recognized charter schools association in the nation to launch an accreditation program designed specifically to measure charter school quality. The program, a partnership between CANEC and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), aims to raise the standards for charter schools operating throughout the state. The new WASC-CANEC Accreditation Program which emphasizes rigorous self-study, self-evaluation, and regular on-site visits by trained external review teams will provide school faculty, families, and community leaders with reliable verification of charter school quality. More importantly, the program will encourage improvement in the overall effectiveness of California's charter schools. WASC is one of the six regional organizations charged with accrediting public and private schools, colleges and universities in the United States. "We believe that the new WASC-CANEC Accreditation Program will give charter schools the guidance and support they need to succeed, while bringing assurance to key stakeholders," said Sue Bragato, Executive Director of CANEC. "By holding charter school operators to the highest levels of performance, this program aims to boost the academic quality and financial stability of charter schools operating in California."
USCS - USCS New Resources-Assistance And Guidance Developed by the california charter Schools Development Center for The Guidecovers standardssetting (including updates on california s state standards http://www.uscharterschools.org/cs/r/query/q/1573?topic=10,12,14,37,11&type=5&x-
