The recent news out of Columbus—that 17 of the 75 local charter schools had closed in the past year—is bad in so many ways. It throws up a big obstacle for reformers in that city,...
CRPE studied these efforts to determine how leaders can overcome the challenges of working across traditionally competitive boundaries. When done well, collective action can lead to tangible results:
For Charter Schools:
For School Districts:
For the Community:
CRPE’s studies on district-charter relationships focused most closely on 23 cities with District-Charter Collaboration Compacts supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Between 2011 and 2017, under a grant from the Foundation, we regularly interviewed leaders in school districts, charter schools, and support organizations to track progress on these agreements, reported on local political, legal, and financial barriers to collaboration, and facilitated networking and problem-solving between cities. In January 2017 we published our seminal study, Bridging the District-Charter Divide to Help More Students Succeed. In cities with size-able charter school student populations, we concluded that cross-sector policy coordination is a necessity, not a nicety. However, despite the urgent need, cooperation on common issues was too often treated as a time-limited, forced marriage rather than as a sustained effort and long-term relationship. This study built upon our 2013 interim assessment of 16 Compact Cities.
Our reports include:
Many of CRPE’s other reports offer examples of district-charter cooperation, including:
The recent news out of Columbus—that 17 of the 75 local charter schools had closed in the past year—is bad in so many ways. It throws up a big obstacle for reformers in that city,...
Egocentric standoffs between charter and district leaders too often get in the way of smart negotiations and collective action that would benefit students. That’s the reason many cities are pursuing portfolio reforms and district-charter collaboration...
This “Spotlight” brief outlines four strategies for building effective communication around district change efforts.
When Paul Hill wrote CRPE’s treatise, Reinventing Public Education, nearly 20 years ago, he was taking off on an idea developed by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler in Reinventing Government: the role of government should...
One of the most important challenges for governing city schools in an era of choice is protecting the interests of students with special needs. These kids are often desperate for better options, but also vulnerable...
This “Spotlight” brief describes successful collaborative initiatives in district-charter Compact cities, and highlights the advantages that portfolio district superintendents bring to collaboration.
Elected school boards are a cherished community tradition in public education and they provide voice to many big and small community interests. But sometimes these political functions undermine their ability to improve opportunities for students....
This study uses NYC data to analyze the factors driving the gap in special education enrollment between charter and traditional public schools.
Governance reforms – those that open public education to innovation, new providers, competition, and family choice – often start with suspension of normal local politics, via mayoral or state takeovers that bypass the elected local...
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...
Current Research
Previous Research
