Innovate or Die
A few weeks ago, after I gave a presentation on the opportunities and challenges of the portfolio model, a charter school proponent asked me, “Robin, do you really believe districts can innovate?” Certainly not under the current governance model, which is actually hostile to innovation. By innovation, I’m not talking about buying everyone iPads and […]
Little Red Caboose or Impending Derailment? Charter Schools and Common Core
One jolting result from the generally sobering New York State Common Core test results was that charter schools fared worse than previously when compared to other New York public schools. Although student background was not taken into account, many New York charter schools’ proficiency scores were simply not as impressive as on other exams. Critics […]
How Governance Reforms Can Outlast the Reformers
Fourth in a CRPE Blog Series on Education Governance as a Civic Enterprise Those who have done well under traditional school governance systems are frightened by the ideas of families choosing their schools, schools controlling their own budgets and staffing, and meaningful accountability structures encompassing all schools. When people see disadvantaged kids getting access to […]
Assessing the Outcomes of Charter School Students with Special Needs: Research Design Brief
This brief outlines challenges of producing rigorous and useful research on how students with special needs fare in charters and makes recommendations for designing studies needed to inform policy and practice.
Getting Beyond the Book Wars
Third in a CRPE Blog Series on Education Governance as a Civic Enterprise I’m often asked how CRPE’s portfolio model differs from the vision put forth in my friend Andy Smarick’s book, The Urban School System of the Future. My first response is, “Not all that much.” Andy’s proposed solution to urban school system dysfunction […]
Spreading the Gospel—and the Freedoms
Second in a CRPE Blog Series on Education Governance as a Civic Enterprise Educators often let me know they are passionately opposed to charter schools. “If freedom is so good for schools,” they ask, “then why not give it to all of them, not just charter schools?” I used to say that you have to […]
How Will We Oversee the School Systems of the Future?
First in a CRPE Blog Series on Education Governance as a Civic Enterprise Those of you who follow CRPE’s work know that we have long been a leading source of ideas about new approaches to public oversight of schools. One of our core beliefs regarding governance is that public schools can, and should, be given […]
Defining and Organizing for School Autonomy
This brief explains how portfolio districts define and implement autonomies for schools.
CRPE Study Explores Special Education and Charter Schools
The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has received a $450,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation to study charter schools and special education. Nationwide, the question of lower enrollment of special education students in charter schools continues to create lively speculation. Charter school critics argue that charter schools discourage families of students with special […]
To Keep Improving Options for Students, Sustain Alonso’s Strategy
By Paul Hill and Sarah Yatsko Baltimore is right to applaud City Schools CEO Andrés Alonso and to be sorry to see him go. Like other cities that lose an effective school district leader, the city is also at risk of losing what he has done. Everything depends on understanding how he has approached his […]