Proposal: The Future of the Charter School Movement Requires a New Political Strategy
The national charter movement grew because people from diverse perspectives agreed on the need for a new form of public school free of bureaucratic and union constraints. As political scientist Stephen Page observed, the movement consisted of left-leaning educators supported by right-wing money. In the absence of a guiding political mastermind, the members of the movement […]
Clearing the School Choice Fog for Parents
School choice proponents argue that choice creates equitable access to quality schools and results in the shuttering of schools that perform poorly since few families choose them. However, this is based on families having the right tools to make informed and timely decisions. In reality, school choice is often dizzyingly complex and, as CRPE researchers […]
It’s Time to Study Alternative Schools
America is trying to serve an ever-increasing proportion of its most at-risk students outside of traditional high schools. This should be studied carefully. Alternative Education Campuses (AECs) serve young people who have failed in school, dropped out, or are at risk of dropping out or being expelled. Momentum Strategy & Research, which studies AECs as […]
Denver’s Storied Portfolio District Is Starting to Act Like Just Another City School System
Denver Public Schools hosts endless visits from civic and district leaders looking for ways to reinvent public education. It has been a star portfolio district and a leader in charter-district collaboration. Over the course of a decade, multiple superintendents and board members have enjoyed strong backing to give parents freedom to choose outside their neighborhood […]
Three Ways Superintendents Can Increase Their Influence
Some years ago CRPE published An Impossible Job? A View from the Urban Superintendent’s Chair. It detailed the many things stacked against a district superintendent’s success, including politics, bureaucracy, union dominance of school boards, and short tenures. These findings still apply; yet now as then some local superintendents are making a success of the job. […]
Reforming the School Choice Rhetoric
I often find myself thrust into different worlds within the school choice community. These worlds are defined by the underlying political ideology of the organizations advocating for various types of choice. And despite being one of those people who doesn’t think politics should be part of determining what is best for students in schools, in […]
2018 at CRPE: Looking Around the Corner
At CRPE, our core business is gathering and analyzing evidence to inform education policy and propel systemic improvements. But what makes us unique is our ability to look around the corner to anticipate new challenges and develop bold ideas and pragmatic solutions. Marking our 25th Anniversary, 2018 will be an important year for CRPE, and […]
The Unavoidable Politics of Education Reform
In K–12 education, politics is the great equalizer. It has killed initiatives from the right and from the left, from top-down district curriculum mandates to site-based management. Common Core State Standards, test-based accountability, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s effort to improve teacher quality all fell prey to political backlash. Charter schools haven’t died […]
What You Were Reading in 2017
year-end-banner-photos-only.png From a groundbreaking report on school districts’ financial struggles to a just-in-time brief on a new “third way” educational model, here are our top five publications of the year (plus our most popular blog posts). Better Together: Ensuring Quality District Schools in Times of Charter Growth and Declining Enrollment year-end-better-together-01.png Based on a convening […]
When Schools Come in Different Flavors, It Doesn’t Mean Families Have Options
When asked about school quality, public school parents tend to be pessimistic about how good the nation’s schools are overall, but happy with their own children’s school. This disconnect is a long-standing finding from survey research, but it’s not the only inconsistency in how parents view public schools. When we surveyed 3,208 families across eight […]
