In Judging the Consequences of Charter Growth, Weigh Benefits to District Students Against Financial Strains
Editor’s note: This blog series examines common narratives about charter schools, separates fact from fiction, and highlights legitimate issues that must be addressed. The full series is available here. One of the most frequent criticisms of the charter school movement is that these alternative public schools are a financial drain on the system and make […]
What Does It Mean to Be an Ally in Efforts to Transform Public Education? The Answers Threaten to Tear the Movement Apart
What defines an ally? Competing answers to this question threaten to tear apart the increasingly fragile political coalitions working to improve our nation’s schools. I’m an education policy researcher who has spent 25 years exposing unequal opportunity and outcomes in public education and proposing ways to fix those inequities. When I began, I was compelled in […]
Charter Schools Advance Innovation—But Often Not in the Ways You’d Expect
Editor’s note: This blog series examines common narratives about charter schools, separates facts from fiction, and highlights legitimate issues that must be addressed. The full series is available here. A common criticism of charter schools argues that they are run-of-the-mill, nothing special, a big disappointment in light of promises they would be laboratories for innovation. […]
Introducing the Big Think Network: A Shift from “Scaling Innovation” to Innovation at Scale
At CRPE we have a tradition of looking around the corner. We worry about problems that may be coming and contemplate new ways to get ahead of them. We posit and test systemic changes to allow families and educators to be successful. This kind of thinking has shaped our research agenda since 1993, leading us […]
We Need a More Productive Conversation About Charter Schools and Segregation
Editor’s note: This blog series examines common narratives about charter schools, separates facts from fiction, and highlights legitimate issues that must be addressed. The full series is available here. In 2009 the UCLA Civil Rights Project published a report accusing charter schools of resegregating public education. Although that charge was quickly and thoroughly refuted, critics […]
Separating Truth from Fiction as Charter Schools Transition from Shiny Theory to Gritty Reality
Long known as uncomfortable truth-tellers in education reform, the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington Bothell has for years tracked the problems that arise as charter schools have made the transition from shiny new idea to gritty reality. For nearly 30 years charter schools have built a track record of success, […]
A Middle Way for States in the ESSA Era: Lessons from Texas
The report examines the Texas Education Agency’s System of Great Schools (SGS) initiative, which calls on districts to manage school performance in new ways, expands access to school choice options, and takes a dynamic approach to managing their supply of schools.
After Decades of Financial Challenge, How Can Oakland Reorient Itself?
In this brief, we explore evidence related to the causes of OUSD’s financial crisis and why previous efforts to right the ship have failed.
Don’t Neglect Districts in the Effort to Advance Portfolio from the Outside
Re:portfolio is a monthly publication of articles, news clips, and resources about the portfolio strategy for civic and education leaders. This post comes from the second edition, in which we discuss outside-in approaches for reform. If you like what you’re reading or have questions for us, we hope you’ll reach out to crpe@uw.edu. Sign up here to […]
Some Charter Schools Use Their Flexibility to Serve Students With Disabilities. Our New Report Shows How More Schools Can Do the Same.
For parents of children with disabilities, finding a school where the adults not only care about what your child needs but are capable of providing it can be life-changing. Over the past 12 months, researchers at the Center on Reinventing Public Education and the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools fanned out across the country. […]