Inside Charter Schools: Unlocking Doors to Student Success

Posted by on February 20, 2011

As a movement matures, a pull toward the traditional

In the final report from its four-year Inside Charter Schools Initiative, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has released a study that finds the autonomy granted charters can have valuable effects in schools and in the educational system as a whole, but expectations about what a school “should look like,” the stress of tight and unstable budgets, and administrative demands are pulling many charters back to traditional practices. The authors argue that the freedom given charter schools can lead to new programs serving diverse needs, to higher expectations for low-income and minority students, to more school-focused professional norms for teachers and leaders, and to new ways to hire teacher and leader talent in schools. However, “some doors — though unlocked — go unopened,” and overwhelming administrative demands have undermined innovation as charter networks have grown. As the charter school movement matures, a call for more consistent quality in charters has come from both advocates and opponents, which the authors feel is an appropriate evolution. The report cautions that autonomy only creates the opportunity for high-quality schools; it does not guarantee it, and the charter movement must continue to encourage innovation even as it expands and becomes more established.

Read more: http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/view/csr_pubs/381