The Main Barriers to Scaling Successful Charter Schools Are Political, not Substantive
With news that federal funding for charter school programs is in question, the time seems ripe for an open debate on the promise of—and the barriers to—charter growth. CRPE has a long tradition of cultivating internal dialogue and debate; every once in a while we have shared that debate publicly. This post from our new […]
What New Orleans Can Teach Us About the Forces Blocking Change in Education
This is a review of The Politics of Institutional Reform: Katrina, Education, and the Second Face of Power, by Terry M. Moe (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Nearly 15 years after Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and prompted rebuilding effort that fundamentally transformed the city’s school system, observers are still confusing the parts for the whole. […]
The Real Secret of Success? Progressive Pedagogy at Scale
Success Academy doesn’t lack for press. And for good reason. There’s the eye-popping academic performance: 99 percent of students proficient in math, 90 percent in English Language Arts. There’s the charter school network’s astonishing growth: from one school in 2006 to 45 across New York City today, educating 17,000 children, mainly from poverty—a system nearly […]
The Real Secret of Success? Progressive Pedagogy at Scale
Success Academy doesn’t lack for press. And for good reason. There’s the eye-popping academic performance: 99 percent of students proficient in math, 90 percent in English Language Arts. There’s the charter school network’s astonishing growth: from one school in 2006 to 45 across New York City today, educating 17,000 children, mainly from poverty—a system nearly […]
Thinking Forward in 2020
A new year is always cause for CRPE to look forward, not back. We think hard about how we can apply our analytical tools to pressing problems in our public education system. We try to do so with creativity, optimism, and urgency. This year, some of our most exciting new research flows directly from our 25th […]
Dubious Research Used to Attack Charter Schools Program
The Network for Public Education (NPE) has just published a second report claiming that the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) has “wasted” more than a billion dollars. Starting with its claims of financial loss, the report is strong on emotional appeal but weak on evidence, logic, and facts. NPE’s Still Asleep at the Wheel builds […]
Beyond “No Excuses”: Lessons from a Charter School Network’s Transformation
Introduction from CRPE director Robin Lake: I am delighted to introduce a new contributor to this blog and a new Senior Fellow at CRPE, Steven Wilson. I have known and admired Steven for more than 20 years. He was special assistant for strategic planning for Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld and co-executive director of the Pioneer […]
How Charter Schools Help Cultivate Good Citizenship
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. Americans are losing faith in democracy. Politics are becoming increasingly polarized. Civic engagement has been in decline for decades. Observers of these trends are right to […]
We Need to Ask the Right Questions about Corruption and Charter Schools
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. Do charter schools attract crooks? Recent headlines and commentaries could make one think so. Earlier this year, respected journalist John Merrow assembled diverse evidence from newspapers […]
An Innovation Network: A More Diverse and Inclusive Way to Innovate
This spring the Center on Reinventing Public Education launched the Big Think Network—a collaboration among six organizations that are working to build more just and responsive learning systems in their communities. In the process, we hope to build a new, more inclusive model of what research and development can look like in public education. Historically, […]
