CSAS also helps school founders draft the charter school proposal, and is responsible for all necessary reporting and accountability requirements. The Edison Project, founded in 1991, is a privately sponsored national effort to create innovative public schools that operate at current public school spending levels and that provide all students, regardless of economic or social circumstances, with an academically excellent education that prepares them for productive lives. A blue-ribbon team led by former Yale president Benno C. Schmidt, Jr., spent two years integrating many of the world's most successful educational practices into a comprehensive school design. The end result was the development of a strong academic program for all students that prepares them for higher education as well as success in the workplace. The curriculum places a special emphasis on ensuring that all students master the fundamentals of reading and mathematics in the primary grades.
All students also take instruction in Spanish beginning in Kindergarten.
Edison Project schools tailor their instruction to each student's needs and use regular, quantifiable assessments to track student progress. Class sizes are flexible in size and composition, depending on instructional goals. Primary classes are predominantly age-graded and fixed. The schools also use a longer school day to provide 7 hours of dedicated learning time for primary students and 8 hours for older students. Additionally, a longer school year provides at least 205 days of instruction annually.