ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The Role of Charter Restarts in School Reform: Honoring Our Commitments to Students and Public Accountability
Author: Doyle, Daniela
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Change,School Closing,Charter Schools,Educational Quality,Accountability,Institutional Autonomy,Personnel Selection,Budgeting,Decision Making,Boards of Education,Educational Strategies,Profiles,Role,Governance,Interviews,Administrator Attitudes,Day Schools,Elementary Secondary Education

Charter school boards enter into a critical bargain: autonomy for accountability. Compared with their traditional district counterparts, they operate with relative freedom in curriculum, hiring, budgeting, and other operational decisions. In exchange, they are held accountable for student performance in ways that traditional district schools are not: If they fail to meet the expectations set in their charter, they may be closed. Closing a school--which dissolves the charter and charter organization, liquidates its assets, and requires that students reenroll elsewhere--can be a difficult choice, especially when the students have few or no high-quality school options available. Closing the charter could result in sending students to schools that may be only marginally better, or sometimes even worse. The sector needs a pathway to create high-quality seats for these students while still holding the adults in the building accountable for low performance. This report explores a variation on school closure--charter school &quot;restarts.&quot; Charter school restarts represent a relatively new strategy for intervening in charter schools when performance does not meet expectations--not just as a last-ditch effort to avoid closure, but as a proactive strategy that responsible boards and authorizers can initiate when the conditions are right. This report: (1) takes a closer look at how restarts fit within the larger context of charter school quality and accountability, and when a restart might be a viable option for charter authorizers and boards to pursue; (2) describes how charter restarts have played out at five schools--Henry Ford Academy: Power House High in Chicago; Harriet Tubman in New Orleans; Paul Robeson in Trenton, New Jersey; Harlem Day in New York; and Hardy Williams in Philadelphia. These examples draw on more than a dozen interviews with current and former charter operators, board members, and authorizers to identify trends, decision points, and lessons learned; and (3) offers recommendations for board members and charter authorizers interested in pursuing a restart strategy, drawing on lessons learned from the school profiles and discussions with leaders in the field.
Moving beyond the Killer B's: The Role of School Boards in School Accountability and Transformation
Author: Rhim, Lauren Morando
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Governing Boards,Boards of Education,Accountability,Educational Change,Role,Governance,Educational Improvement,Change Strategies,Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Federal Programs,Federal Aid,Institutional Characteristics,Personnel Selection,School Districts,Leadership Responsibility,Time Management,Decision Making,Department Heads,Board Administrator Relationship,Correlation,Outcomes of Education,Leadership Training,Capacity Building,Interviews,Data Collection,Data Analysis,Literature Reviews

Locally controlled public schools are one of the cornerstones of our nation's democracy, yet many schools are not preparing students for success. Far too many students are not graduating, and many of those who do graduate are woefully unprepared for college or a meaningful career. Successfully initiating and sustaining meaningful improvements in the lowest-performing public schools is a pressing challenge for policy leaders and practitioners nationwide. Local school boards sit at the intersection of federal and state policy and local implementation of reform initiatives. Yet, ongoing efforts to improve public education focus primarily on the role of teachers, principals, and superintendents, as well as state and federal policymakers. Missing from this debate is a robust discussion or examination of the role of local school boards. In light of this disconnect, researchers sought to examine the research available regarding the role of local school boards in targeted improvement efforts and explore emerging practice through interviews with key practitioners in districts engaged in such efforts. As the dominant form of school governance for the foreseeable future, it is critical that we consider strategies to leverage school boards' authority to improve student outcomes. This report outlines methods and key findings, and identifies strategies proposed to more effectively leverage local school boards' potential to play a leading role in catalyzing and sustaining meaningful change that will lead to better outcomes for students. The following are appended: (1) Methodology; (2) Data Collection and Analysis; (3) Interview Participants; and (4) Interview Protocol with Probes. [This report was written with the contributions of Roger Quarles and Kenneth Wong.]
College Bound &amp; Determined
Author: Bojorquez, Hector
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: College Bound Students,Student Attrition,School Districts,Case Studies,Transformational Leadership,Superintendents,Low Achievement,Expectation,Educational Change,College Readiness,High School Graduates,Graduation Rate,Dropout Rate,Educational Improvement,Equal Education,Educational Opportunities,Educational Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,Accountability,Career Readiness,Attitude Change,Outcomes of Education,Academic Persistence,School Holding Power,Educational Quality,Teacher Effectiveness,Learner Engagement,Change Strategies,Capacity Building,Professional Development,Partnerships in Education,Citizen Participation,Family Involvement

Intercultural Development Research Association's latest high school attrition study shows that Texas high schools lose one out of every four students before they graduate. Since 1986, schools in Texas have lost a total of more than 3.3 million students. Despite small improvements over the last several years, at the current pace, universal high school education is almost a quarter century away. By then, Texas is projected to lose another 3 million students who will leave schools without a diploma and without even minimal preparation to compete in a rapidly changing workforce. This publication seeks to make the case that all students deserve an equitable, excellent, and college bound education by using the Quality Schools Action Framework to tell the story of how one school district has brought that ideal closer to reality for all students. Under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Daniel King, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District (PSJA) has transformed itself from a district with low achievement and low expectations into a district where all students are expected to graduate ready to start college. This publication documents some of what takes place at PSJA so that communities and schools across the country will advocate for meaningful change in their districts so that we may stem back the tide that threatens to dim our future.
The Power of Possibility: How IDRA and Its Partners Are Changing Public Education. IDRA Annual Report 2013
Author: Intercultural Development Research Association
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Public Education,Educational Quality,Equal Education,Family School Relationship,School Community Relationship,Educational Change,Change Strategies,Preschool Education,Elementary Secondary Education,Postsecondary Education,Higher Education,Partnerships in Education,Barriers,Leadership Responsibility,Educational Finance,Access to Education,Civil Rights,Readiness,Educational Research,Models,Best Practices,Parent Participation,Teacher Competencies,STEM Education,Special Education,Communities of Practice,Dropout Prevention,Graduation Rate,Annual Reports

Many would agree on the primacy of a high quality education for social and economic health, democracy, and individual prosperity, but scarcely a week goes by that we do not hear that a quality education for all children is not possible. Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) and their partners are told that parents don't care; teachers can't be prepared; administrators are out of touch; and children, if you challenge them, will drop out. The problem with these pronouncements is that experience does not bear them out. Every day across the country, IDRA works with students, family, and community leaders who are showing that is it possible not only to transform their own public schools and learning, but to be a voice for all students. IDRA's 2013 annual report shares stories, models, and accomplishments in their work to strengthen public education to work for all children. Together, IDRA and its partners are improving education across the spectrum from prekindergarten to higher education, fostering family-community-school leadership and partnerships, addressing inequalities and barriers in education policy and practice, and producing innovative solutions that produce better results for children. Following a letter from the IDRA President and CEO, María Robledo Montecel, this annual report contains the following sections: (1) Compelling Facts to Make the Case for Excellent, Equitable Education; (2) Sustainable Connections to Produce Results for Children; (3) Courageous Leadership to Catalyze Action for Change; and (4) Financial Information regarding IDRA.
Managing Performance in the System of Support: Rubric with 52 Indicators, Explanations, and Exemplars
Author: Hanes, Susan
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Performance,Performance Based Assessment,Accountability,Scoring Rubrics,State Standards,Educational Indicators,Intervention,Evaluation,Design,Educational Resources,School Districts,Financial Support,Data Analysis,Teamwork,Consultants,Barriers,Program Implementation,Educational Innovation,Change Strategies,Technical Assistance,Information Dissemination,Progress Monitoring,State Departments of Education,Educational Administration,Alignment (Education),Local Government,Recognition (Achievement),Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation

The Building State Capacity and Productivity (BSCP) Center released a report outlining a process for state education agencies (SEAs) to evaluate and improve their System of Recognition, Accountability, and Support (SRAS). The federal government now sets high expectations for state and local use of federal dollars while allowing greater state autonomy in achieving these goals. Local education agencies (LEAs), more readily than in the past, turn to their states for guidance and support in meeting their constituents' demands for better school performance and in navigating the complexities of teaching and learning in an era of accountability. State leaders are attempting to shift their organizations to meet these demands, and innovative state leaders are finding new and bolder solutions to low performance, consistent with their state structures, traditions, and contexts (Redding, 2012). Managing the SRAS for performance will not be business as usual. States will need to be deliberate in designing and improving their SRAS to: (1) Strategically mobilize all of its tools including building systemic and local capacity for change, creating opportunity for local agencies to pursue new strategies, offering incentives to improve, and intervening in the hardest cases; (2) Differentiate their application of specific tools to deal with schools' and districts' varied performance challenges and trajectories; (3) Include LEAs as both partners and targets of reform; and (4) Constantly assess its own efforts and identify ways to improve the SRAS to more effectively support improvement in student achievement outcomes. The SRAS Performance Management Rubric is not a compliance monitoring process, a rating system, or a means of comparing one state's system with another's. Rather the state's profile that is produced from using the performance management rubric contained in this SRAS document informs an SEA's immediate planning process by determining which indicators have priority status and are manageable.
Charlotte, N.C.'s Project L.I.F.T.: Ranson IB Middle School Launches an Opportunty Culture. An Opportunity Culture Case Study
Author: Barrett, Sharon Kebschull
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Case Studies,Effective Schools Research,Organizational Culture,Educational Change,Change Strategies,School Administration,Teacher Effectiveness,Appropriate Technology,Technology Integration,Academic Achievement,Educational Improvement,Educational Methods,Models,Teacher Leadership,Administrative Principles,Teacher Evaluation,Teacher Employment Benefits,Compensation (Remuneration),Teacher Salaries,Sustainability,Principals,Middle Schools

Principal Alison Harris is blunt in describing what she confronted on her arrival to Ranson IB Middle School in 2011. &quot;I was placed in what many people would call an impossible situation,&quot; she says. During her initial visit to the school in 2009-10, she watched as students changed classes--while teachers pressed against the lockers to avoid being run over. &quot;There was a pervasiveness of disrespect, and no order or purpose.&quot; Ranson needed safety, order, and structure--and then, major academic improvement. After struggling to improve the culture among students and staff, Harris saw the great need to recruit and retain excellent teachers. When she began at Ranson, the school needed 70 teachers. It had 42. She learned from Project L.I.F.T. (Leadership and Investment For Transformation) about Public Impact's Opportunity Culture initiative--in which schools use job redesign and technology to reach more students with excellent teachers, for more pay, within budget, and to develop all teachers on the job--and decided to bring its possibilities to Ranson. Her school design team eventually settled on two models in combination: using multi-classroom leaders, who lead a team of teachers and take accountability for their students' outcomes, for far more pay; and time-technology swap teachers (also known as blended learning teachers), whose students alternate between age- and child-appropriate digital instruction--as little as an hour daily per student--and teaching delivered in person. Harris allowed one teacher to start his multi-classroom leader role midway through 2012-13, even though other L.I.F.T. schools would not begin implementing the models until the next year. She quickly saw results, and on August 26, 2013, Ranson started a new school year fully staffed, with many more great teachers and a staff committed to its new structure and purpose. This case study looks at the planning for and early days of Ranson's Opportunity Culture work.
Charlotte, N.C.'s Project L.I.F.T.: New Teaching Roles Create Culture of Excellence in High-Need Schools. An Opportunity Culture Case Study
Author: Han, Jiye Grace
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Case Studies,School Effectiveness,Educational Improvement,Program Design,Organizational Culture,Staff Utilization,Job Enrichment,Models,Teacher Leadership,Teacher Salaries,Organizational Communication,Talent Development,Strategic Planning,Program Implementation,Administrative Principles,Systems Approach,Teacher Role,Teacher Responsibility,School Administration

This case study reports on the work of Denise Watts, who in 2011 was the newly named Project L.I.F.T. executive director and a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools zone superintendent. She approached Public Impact for help in meeting the new Project L.I.F.T. (Leadership and Investment for Transformation) goals. Facing urgent needs for real change, Watts saw Public Impact's Opportunity Culture initiative--which highlights the potential of using job redesign and technology to reach more students with excellent teachers, for more pay, within budget--as a key part of the solution. In creating an Opportunity Culture, schools develop new teaching roles, form collaborative teams able to meet during school hours, and enhance teacher development. Teachers and staff have the opportunity to develop to their full potential through collaboration with and leadership from excellent teachers, and career advancement allows teachers to earn more and help more students. This would create a &quot;win-win&quot; for the education profession and for the thousands of students who do not have consistent, favorable circumstances to be educated by a highly effective teacher. Watts introduced the concept of an Opportunity Culture to all nine Project L.I.F.T. schools, and invited them to be the first ones to launch this work. Four schools took on the challenge: Ashley Park PreK-8, Allenbrook Elementary, Thomasboro Academy, and Ranson IB Middle School. All are historically low-performing and high-need schools that feed into West Charlotte High School, which holds political and historical significance in the city as an anchor for its community and the focal point of the city's school desegregation efforts in the 1970s. [Additional contributors to the case study were Joe Ableidinger, Bryan C. Hassel, and Emily Ayscue Hassel.]
Charlotte, N.C.'s Project L.I.F.T.: Ashley Park PreK-8 Launches Multi-Classroom Leadership and Blended Learning. An Opportunity Culture Case Study
Author: Barrett, Sharon Kebschull
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Case Studies,Principals,Disadvantaged Schools,Teacher Competencies,Low Achievement,Elementary Schools,Middle Schools,Readiness,Educational Change,Change Strategies,Educational Improvement,School Culture,State Standards,Achievement Gains,School Turnaround,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Educational Quality,Instructional Leadership,Teacher Role,Teamwork,Teacher Collaboration,Blended Learning,Educational Technology

Tonya Kales came to Ashley Park PreK-8 as its principal (2009-2013), and confronted a school at the end of its rope. Ashley Park was a beautiful facility, but there was no learning going on in the building, it was a chaotic environment for both kids and adults. It was a hostile environment--had adults that were totally incompetent in their teaching skills--and the kids in turn were disengaged. This historically low-performing, high-need school feeds into West Charlotte High School, which holds political and historical significance in the city as an anchor for its community and as the focal point of the city's school desegregation efforts in the 1970s. But Ashley Park was sending students to West Charlotte who were in no way equipped for high school. Kales, a 22-year veteran of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), had never seen anything like it. Kales made rapid-fire changes, bringing in new staff, changing the relationships among the grades to improve instruction, and creating a culture of caring combined with high expectations. The percentage of students meeting state standards increased by 12 percentage points in reading and 15 percentage points in math in the first year of the turnaround under Kales and Assistant Principal Jeanette Reber. Ashley Park PreK--8 School, is one of four L.I.F.T. (Leadership and Investment for Transformation) schools implementing new Opportunity Culture school models and roles.
Recruiting in an Opportunity Culture: Lessons Learned. An Opportunity Culture Vignette
Author: Barrett, Sharon Kebschull
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Vignettes,Teacher Recruitment,Employment Practices,Experienced Teachers,Teacher Employment Benefits,Teacher Selection,Improvement Programs

When districts get ready to recruit excellent teachers for the career possibilities that Opportunity Culture roles offer, success may come down to two actions: Start early, and communicate constantly, say recruiters in Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Project L.I.F.T. (Leadership and Investment For Transformation) schools. What brings excellent teachers in droves to apply for jobs in hard-to-staff schools? Project L.I.F.T. started by offering a complete Opportunity Culture package of career advancement roles, then advertised those roles early, often, and clearly--leading to a strong uptick in both the quantity and quality of applicants for teaching roles at schools that previously saw many positions go unfilled. In this brief vignette, L.I.F.T. leaders explain how this was accomplished. Public Impact also provides on their website the accompanying video, &quot;Recruiting in an Opportunity Culture&quot; that showcases principals and district leaders sharing how an Opportunity Culture attracts great teachers.
A Progressive Concern: Productivity in Education. The Productivity for Results Series No. 7
Author: Brown, Cynthia G.
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Equity (Finance),Resource Allocation,Politics of Education,Educational Resources,Productivity,Public Schools,School Districts,State Aid,Federal Aid,Budgets,Compensation (Remuneration),Merit Pay,Accountability,Academic Achievement

The authors concentrate on financial resources available to schools, how to improve fiscal equity, and how schools can use resources in smarter ways. They explain why political progressives should assist in--and even lead--efforts to bring the idea of managing performance with measurable outcomes to public schools. The first section dwells on issues of fairness in financial resources available to schools. This theme, of course, is familiar terrain for the political left, and progressives have a special role to play in shoehorning productivity into debates and policy formation around improving fiscal equity in the nation's public schools. The second section takes on the idea of using resources in smarter ways. This idea, difficult for everyone, is especially challenging to those more comfortable tinkering with inputs than managing performance based on measurable outcomes. But mounting evidence of desperate misalignment between traditional uses of resources and outcome-oriented goals undermines public support for existing levels of investment, dashing hopes for strategically defensible increases.
A Legal Lever for Enhancing Productivity. The Productivity for Results Series No. 3
Author: Ettema, Elizabeth
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Productivity,Public Education,State Standards,Measurement Techniques,State Legislation,Educational Quality,Access to Education,Teacher Competencies,Preservice Teacher Education,Teacher Certification,Access to Information,Student Evaluation,Teacher Evaluation,Evaluation Methods,Teacher Effectiveness,School Districts,Academic Achievement,Compensation (Remuneration),Teacher Salaries,Merit Pay,Teacher Dismissal,Instructional Materials,Educational Objectives,Incentives,Educational Technology

With limited resources and fiscal strain, it is more important than ever for states and school districts to use available funds for education as efficiently and productively as possible. This is even more true today in order to educate young people to a higher standard of true readiness for college or career. This paper reviews both economic and education research to identify characteristics that typify enterprises that are efficient. It focuses on the principles of x-efficiency set out in the work of Henry Levin: (1) A clear objective outcome with measurable outcomes; (2) Incentives that are linked to success on the objective function; (3) Efficient access to useful information for decisions; (4) Adaptability to meet changing conditions; and (5) Use of the most productive technology consistent with cost constraints. The paper evaluates the degree to which Texas in its law and policy follows these principles in its use of resources in two areas crucial to the successful education of students: the effectiveness of teachers and the impact of the instructional materials they use. The paper focuses on Texas, but states across the country can draw upon findings presented here and apply them to their own policy discussions. Other states have clauses in their state constitutions mandating efficiency, and the methods used here to assess efficiency are likely to apply in these states too.