How Can Public School Students Get the Personalization that Private Schools Offer?
Seattleites are familiar with this 48-year-old picture of two teenagers in the basement of Lakeside, a local private school. It shows Bill Gates and Paul Allen—who would later found Microsoft—working at computer terminals linked to the local Boeing Company’s giant mainframe. This is personalization at work: a school with the institutional and financial flexibility to […]
4 Ways a Big New Study on School Districts, Finances & Charter Schools Is Misleading California Parents & Communities
A new report from In the Public Interest, a think tank based in Oakland, California, is getting some attention right now for purporting to show how three districts in the state are “bearing the cost of the unchecked expansion of privately managed charter schools.” But Breaking Point: The Cost of Charter Schools for Public School […]
Addressing Persistently Underperforming Schools: Evidence and Common Challenges
This brief looks at five strategies city leaders use to improve underperforming schools and lists critical questions leaders should ask when choosing or assessing an improvement strategy.
Connecting the Dots: What Do These Examples Imply for System Change?
Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. Today we are reexamining our old assumptions in light of new technical possibilities, changes in the economy, and a recognition that even the most effective schools may need to develop new approaches to better serve students whose needs warrant […]
Solving for Complex Learners: NYC Autism Charter School
Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. Today we are reexamining our old assumptions in light of new technical possibilities, changes in the economy, and a recognition that even the most effective schools may need to develop new approaches to better serve students whose needs warrant […]
Curating a Portfolio of Student Pathways: Workspace Education
Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. Today we are reexamining our old assumptions in light of new technical possibilities, changes in the economy, and a recognition that even the most effective schools may need to develop new approaches to better serve students whose needs warrant […]
How Can We Get Serious About Successful Pathways for Every Student?
Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. We asked, “How can public oversight and funding be made compatible with school effectiveness?” Working outward to identify systemic barriers and solutions brought us to the portfolio strategy, pupil-based funding, recommendations for more effective charter authorizing, new roles […]
Charter Schools, Segregation, and Anxiety About Social Cohesion
A new book on charter schools and segregation, whose senior editor, Iris Rotberg, I first worked with in 1970 on the War on Poverty, has reminded me how tribally divided the policy research field has become. The book is worth reading as a step toward a still-needed non-tribal discussion of schooling for democracy. blog-180501-hill-cover.jpg Choosing […]
Robin Lake to LAUSD: Stop searching for the next superhero — hand your schools the cape
For the fifth time in the past 10 years, LAUSD is searching for a new superintendent. The school board’s list of required qualifications likely include: Able to drive and execute on an academic improvement vision for more than 640,000 students. Able to turn around or close hundreds of low-performing schools. Able to head off looming […]
Lessons Learned About District-Charter Partnerships: How Sharing Instructional Practices Can Pave the Way for More Collaboration
An overview of the district-charter collaboration landscape and one strategy that many cities are pursuing: sharing instructional practices across district and charter schools.