The Procurement Tightrope Shouldn’t Tie Districts in Knots
Clearly it wasn’t only the failed $1.3 billion deal to put iPads in the hands of all students and teachers that forced the resignation of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent John Deasy. What’s clear, though, is that the recent FBI seizure in L.A. of iPad-related documents and new procurement rules that will increase […]
Education 2015: The City’s the Thing
I’m a sucker for a good Year in Review. When else do we push ourselves to assess impact and think about what’s coming next? Here’s what we at CRPE are pondering as we contemplate the past and enter 2015. In the past several years, CRPE has made its mark in a number of areas. We […]
Renewed District-Charter Collaboration in Minneapolis
Minneapolis was one of only eight cities to sign a District-Charter Collaboration Compact in 2010. In their agreement, Minneapolis Public Schools MPS, six charter schools, seven community organizations, and two former mayors all signed on to support the development of a leadership incubator, accelerate student achievement, and promote the growth of high-performing charter schools. By […]
Bringing Data to the School Enrollment Game
The recent New York Times article on New York City’s high school admissions process describes how the incorporation of game theory into an algorithm for matching students with schools has substantially increased the rates at which students are matched to schools of their choosing. As a New York City parent whose children have twice gone […]
inBloom and the Failure of Innovation 1.0
Michael Horn’s recent piece on the failure of inBloom captures why it was the very opposite of a disruptive innovation from a markets perspective, as well the fatal blind spots and judgment errors present from its inception. Another useful way to frame this—disruption theory aside—is as a contrast between two fundamentally different grammars of innovation. […]
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: An Insider’s Perspective on Urban District Innovation
Steven Hodas (@stevenhodas) is a veteran of both the New York City Department of Education and the edtech industry. In this blog series, School District Innovation: When Practice Collides with Policy, he provides insights into the challenges, struggles, and opportunities of large-district attempts to reform longstanding practices and change cultural norms. This series is part […]
How Cities Can Help Parents Navigate Public School Choice
At CRPE we’ve always believed it’s not preordained that all kids will benefit equally from more choices among public schools. Like any public policy, the results are likely to depend upon an array of complex factors: how savvy and well informed parents are about choosing a school, the availability of talented, mission-driven school developers, access […]
The Portfolio Strategy Is a Problem-Solving Framework, Not a School District
Public school choice in Detroit is essential but not yet working effectively. Students with special needs are not welcome in many Detroit charter schools. Lack of good transportation forces stressed families to choose schools based on safety rather than academics. High-performing charter management organizations are scared off by the dysfunction of the market, which is […]
Cleveland, OH: District-Charter Improvement on a Countdown Clock
This fall, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation named Cleveland as the twenty-first city to participate in its District-Charter Collaboration Compact initiative. Cleveland serves approximately 56,000 students; about 16,000 of them are enrolled in 73 charter schools. While the collaboration between Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) and 14 charter partners focuses on similar challenges as […]
Collision Course: School Discipline and Education Reform
The education reform debate can be like a spinning top. It changes course abruptly and without warning but it remains largely focused inward. The dizzying debate around education policy is on a collision course with another spinning top: the overuse and impact of harsh school discipline practices. The clash may feel like it came out […]