The State of Texas passed an innovation law (Senate Bill 1882) in summer 2017 to foster partnership schools, much like those profiled in CRPE’s recent brief. CRPE research analyst Sean Gill spoke with Molly Weiner,...
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 State of Texas passed an innovation law (Senate Bill 1882) in summer 2017 to foster partnership schools, much like those profiled in CRPE’s recent brief. CRPE research analyst Sean Gill spoke with Molly Weiner,...
The nominating panel charged with selecting candidates for Philadelphia’s new nine-member school board has received its last application. Now, as the district prepares to retake local control of its schools July 1, the panel’s 13...
Cities across the country are grappling with persistent school segregation. While some argue that public school choice increases the problem, there are ways that cities can use carefully designed school choice initiatives as a vehicle...
Summer vacation may still be months away, but school leaders across the country are already gearing up to hire teachers for the next school year. Many will find themselves in the same predicament they’ve faced...
CREDO at Stanford University published a new report today, examining the impact and implementation of nonprofit charter management organization (CMO)-led school turnarounds under Louisiana’s Recovery School District (RSD) in New Orleans and Tennessee’s Achievement School...
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently announced a new focus on supporting networks of middle and high schools. These Networks for School Improvement are intended to support continuous improvement—built on collecting data and testing...
This report examines recent efforts of districts and charter schools to share key instructional practices and offers recommendations for education leaders to move forward.
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...
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...
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...
Current Research
Previous Research