ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
When It Really Matters: Charter Renewal Decisions at the State University of New York. Authorizer Issue Brief. Number 1
Author: Haft, William
Date: 2004-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Institutional Evaluation,State Legislation,Accountability,Charter Schools,Governing Boards,Trustees,Public Education,Decision Making,School Effectiveness,Academic Achievement,Institutional Autonomy

The charter renewal decision is one of the most significant high stakes decision in public education. It determines the continuing existence or termination of a school. It has the potential to be a celebration of the accomplishments and success of a school--and its students--that was built from the ground up a few years earlier. In some sense, the renewal decision happens on an ongoing basis as the authorizer evaluates a school's performance from year to year. Upon passage of New York's Charter Schools Act, The State University of New York Board of Trustees (SUNY or Board of Trustees) established the Charter Schools Institute (CSI) to administer its authorizing responsibilities and, through CSI, currently oversees 24 charter schools. Taken together, CSI's Findings &amp; Recommendations cover a spectrum of renewal possibilities and are particularly instructive regarding charter school accountability. To reach these recommendations the threshold task for CSI was to collect, verify and document relevant evidence about school performance. SUNY's process compiles a host of relevant school performance information. This issue brief is about translating that information into charter renewal decisions. It focuses on CSI's findings and conclusions for the three schools in order to identify the decisive factors that shaped an authorizer's recommendations regarding whether to renew three charters. (Contains 32 endnotes and 2 resources.)
Charter School Authorizers and Oversight: Where is the Line between Effectively Holding  Schools Accountable and Overregulation?. Authorizer Issue Brief. Number 5
Author: National Association of Charter School Authorizers
Date: 2004-10-00
Type: Collected Works - General
Subjects: Charter Schools,Boards of Education,Accountability,Freedom,Educational Administration,Guidelines,Educational Quality,Public Schools,Institutional Evaluation,School Effectiveness

The basic charter school bargain--freedom in exchange for accountability--presents unique challenges to authorizers. Authorizers must walk a tightrope of sorts, respecting each charter school's independence and distinct mission, while holding every school accountable for educational results and public obligations. Overseeing charter schools is thus a delicate balancing act, which most authorizers must navigate through trial, error and improvisation. To gain perspective on how effective charter school oversight can and should be conducted, the following question was posed to four leaders within the charter school community: &quot;It is a fundamental tenet that charter schools should be held accountable for performance rather than regulated for process. How should authorizers uphold this distinction when conducting charter school oversight?&quot; This brief provides four unique responses to this question and advice and support to authorizers feeling their way through this difficult task. This paper contains the following: (1) Four Guidelines for Charter School Monitoring (Greg Richmond); (2) Regulating for Process: A Response of Unequipped Authorizers (Jim Griffin); (3) Clarity, Quality and Flexibility: Necessities of the Chartering Process (Joe Nathan); and (4) A View from Within: How the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board Effectively Oversees Charter Schools (Jo Baker).
The Authorizer and Charter School Closures: Exercising Adaptive Leadership to Protect the Public Interest. Authorizer Issue Brief. Number 8
Author: Geyer, Veronica
Date: 2005-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Charter Schools,Leadership Effectiveness,Administrator Responsibility,Leadership Qualities,Politics of Education,School Closing,Educational Quality,Communication Strategies,Planning

Part and parcel of a charter school authorizer's oversight responsibility is the unenviable task of closing a school that fails to pass muster. As with most challenges that authorizers face, closing a charter school can be a complex task; executing a closure decision can entail a web of issues that the prudent authorizer must unravel carefully. And while no two charter schools' circumstances or closure processes will be identical, having a standard yet adaptable closure protocol guided by principles of effective leadership will help authorizers address the difficulties of a school closure consistently, adequately and, most importantly, in a manner that protects students and the public interest. Ronald Heifetz, author of "Leadership Without Easy Answers" and a renowned expert on leadership theory, exhorts those in positions of authority to advance goals through adaptive leadership which Heifetz defines in terms of five strategic principles: (1) Identify the adaptive challenge; (2) Keep the level of distress within a tolerable range for doing adaptive work; (3) Focus attention on ripening issues and not on stress-reducing distractions; (4) Give the work back to the people, but at a rate they can stand; and (5) Protect voices of leadership without authority. This issue brief addresses common issues that authorizers face in executing a school closure and demonstrates how adherence to Heifetz's five strategic principles of adaptive leadership can help an authorizer respond effectively to the attendant challenges. In addition, this brief provides some salient observations and practical policy approaches that one authorizer, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), has incorporated into its charter school closure protocol and practices. (Contains 4 endnotes and 3 resources.)
Built for Quality: The Capacity Needed to Oversee Charter Schools. Authorizer Issue Brief. Number 3
Author: Smith, Nelson
Date: 2004-06-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Charter Schools,Educational Administration,School Effectiveness,Institutional Autonomy,Public Education,Capacity Building,Resource Allocation,Accountability,Educational Quality,Human Resources,Politics of Education,State Departments of Education,School Districts

The term "authorizer" conveys an imposing sense of size and authority, but in the world of charter schools, the authorizer is often a small-scale office or, more commonly, a single employee for whom chartering is just one among many responsibilities amidst a large institution like a state or local board of education, university, or private nonprofit. Thus, the "blood, sweat, and tears" of authorizing are typically shed inconspicuously from the periphery of an organization that has a much broader focus. Yet authorizing demands a range of capacities, some very new to the public-education arena. In this brief, the authors examine three capacity issues: the kinds of resources needed for effective authorizing; the challenges commonly encountered in securing these resources; and capacity-building strategies used by some leading authorizers to meet the demands of this work. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 8 endnotes.)
The Value of Quality On-Site School Reviews: Seeing is Believing. Ongoing Oversight and Evaluation. Authorizer Issue Brief. Number 4
Author: DiBiase, Rebecca Wolf
Date: 2004-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Charter Schools,Compliance (Legal),School Culture,Institutional Evaluation,Program Evaluation,School Visitation,Accountability,Financial Audits,Models,Protocol Analysis

Monitoring and evaluating whether a charter school is in compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and performing financially, organizationally, and academically requires the authorizer to examine a host of information about an individual school. Some of this information is reported by the school itself; vehicles such as self-reports, testing data, and financial audits detail indicators of the academic and organizational health of a school. While such documentation gives important information on how a school is performing, many authorizers have found that &quot;seeing is believing&quot; and have incorporated on-site reviews, or site visits, into their charter school oversight process. The benefits of on-site reviews are many. Site visits provide authorizers with a mechanism for verifying and corroborating information collected through reports, gauging the culture and climate of a school, gathering evidence of performance from a range of perspectives, and demonstrating the commitment of the authorizer to authentic accountability. There are a variety of models of how on-site reviews may be conducted and how they fit into the larger system of authorizer oversight. This issue brief will examine the key components of a quality on-site review as well as discuss choices to consider when designing school visits into a charter school oversight system. (Contains 6 examples and 3 endnotes.)
Steering the Course for Success: Authorizers and Effective Charter School Governance. Authorizer Issue Brief. Number 9
Author: Cornell-Feist, Marci
Date: 2005-09-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Charter Schools,Governance,Teacher Competencies,Educational Administration,Boards of Education,Governing Boards,Leadership,Accountability,Criteria,Check Lists

Researcher Gary Gruber has stated, "No other singular variable is more important for the health and vitality of a school than the way that it is governed. Teacher competencies, student achievement, parental and community support, adequate facilities and resources are all critical and essential for success. Governance will determine how those characteristics are initiated, managed, supported and promoted." In the charter school setting, effective governance is vital for delivering on promises made to students, parents and the community. Because of the importance of governance, charter school authorizers have a vested interest in ensuring that the schools they oversee are effectively governed. Therefore, it is important that authorizers understand governance and know what makes for effective governance. Presented in two parts, this issue brief defines effective governance in the charter school setting (Part I) and highlights concrete strategies authorizers employ to promote, support and reinforce strong charter school governance (Part II). A list of resources and references is included. (Contains 6 endnotes.)
Leave No Charter behind: An Authorizer Guide to the Use of Growth Data. Authorizing Matters. Issue Brief
Author: Ernst, Jody
Date: 2009-07-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Charter Schools,Educational Indicators,Academic Achievement,Accountability,Achievement Gains,Scores,Comparative Analysis,Academic Ability,Criterion Referenced Tests,Information Utilization

Over the past several years, student growth and growth models have received a lot of attention, in both the charter school sector and the larger education community, as an important indicator for measuring school quality. Educators and policy makers alike have been won over by the argument that because measures of student growth examine the changes in performance of the same students over time, they tell more about how well schools are educating the nation's students than do measures of student achievement, or status. Several states now have "federally approved" growth measures as part of their statewide accountability frameworks, but the methods for computing student growth are many and each method tells something different. Understanding exactly what the data is telling is critical if growth models are to have value in evaluating the quality of a given school. The purpose of this "Issue Brief" is to guide authorizers in the effective use of growth data by outlining the different models for measuring student academic growth and explaining the questions that can be answered by, and the potential limitations of, each type. In addition, this Brief explores key considerations for authorizers as they evaluate their portfolio of schools using a balanced body of evidence, including growth information, and provides examples of authorizers that have effectively incorporated growth measures into their accountability systems. (Contains 1 figure and 8 endnotes.)
The Improving Teacher Quality Program--An Update. Commission Report 06-05
Author: California Postsecondary Education Commission
Date: 2006-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,Science Teachers,Mathematics Teachers,Teacher Persistence,Grants,Teacher Improvement,Improvement Programs,Faculty Development,Educational Quality,Elementary Secondary Education

A new Request for Proposals (RFP) targeted to the retention of science and mathematics teachers is the Commission's most recent initiative under the federal Improving Teacher Quality Program. This report summarizes that initiative and reports on other current activities in the program.
Faculty Salaries at California's Public Universities, 2004-05. Number UP/04-01
Author: California Postsecondary Education Commission
Date: 2004-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Advisory Committees,Methods,Universities,Teacher Salaries,College Faculty,Comparative Analysis,Trend Analysis,State Colleges,Educational Trends,Budgets,Academic Rank (Professional)

Annually, in accordance with Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 51 of the 1965 General Legislative Session, the California State University and the University of California submit to the California Postsecondary Education Commission information on faculty salaries for their respective institutions and for a set of comparison colleges and universities located primarily outside of California. Commission staff develops estimates of the percentage changes in faculty salaries in California public universities that will enable them to attain parity with their respective comparison groups in the forthcoming fiscal year. These final parity figures for both systems are based on final data from five of the eight University of California comparison institutions, and 19 of the 20 California State University comparison institutions. A preliminary estimate of faculty salary parity was reported to the Department of Finance and the Office of the Legislative Analyst last December. This report contains a brief description of the methodology employed to calculate the parity percentages, and the faculty salary increase trends over the past 23 years. Supplemental Budget Language adopted by the Legislature in 1998 precludes changes in the methodology prior to the 2002-03 budget cycle. Because of the lengthy lead times required to develop the Governor's Budget, if any changes in the methodology are contemplated for the 2005-06 cycle, discussions among the members of the Commission's Faculty Salary Advisory Committee should begin no later than the of 2004. (Contains 7 displays.)
Presentation on Higher Education Space Planning to the Assembly Select Committee on Growth and Infrastructure. OP/05-06
Author: California Postsecondary Education Commission
Date: 2005-10-19
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Higher Education,Advisory Committees,Consultants,Standards,Guidelines,Space Utilization,Facilities

&quot;Space and utilization standards&quot; are budgetary planning tools that measure the need for space in California public higher education systems and are common in other areas of State facilities planning. California's higher education space standards were researched and developed between 1948 and 1966, first by consultants and researchers dealing with the post World War II enrollment surge, then by planners working towards the State's eventual adoption of a higher education Masterplan, and finally as research done by the Commission's predecessor, the Coordinating Council for Higher Education. In response to legislative directives in 1985 and 1987, the California Postsecondary Education Commission worked with national consultants MGT and Associates and an advisory committee to evaluate California's higher education planning standards and guidelines. The Committee met 22 times between 1985 and 1990 and its work led to the 1990 Commission report &quot;A Capacity for Learning.&quot; (Contains 4 tables.)
Educational Work of the Young Men's Christian Associations, 1916-1918. Bulletin, 1919, No. 53
Author: Orr, William
Date: 1919-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Males,Social Development,Summer Schools,Youth Programs,Religion,History,Summer Programs,Educational History,Educational Methods,Professional Associations,Urban Areas,Transportation,Rural Areas,Foreign Countries,War,Military Service,Institutionalized Persons,Vocational Education,Recreational Activities,Health Promotion

At the time when the first Young Men's Christian Associations in North America were organized in 1851, at Montreal and Boston, there appears to have been little thought of including a definite educational program in the work of these associations. Such educational work as was done was limited to reading rooms libraries, a few lectures, and, from time to time, the organization and maintenance of literary societies. The great emphasis placed upon distinctively religious work appears to have largely occupied the energies of the leaders in the movement. About 1880, the conception of the field of the association in its work for young men began to take on new content and to develop a new meaning. It was agreed that opportunities for physical, mental, and social development were in no way contrary to the main purpose of the association--that is the fostering of the spiritual life--but contributed most effectively to this end. In 1889, the International Convention, for the time, endorsed educational work as a function of the association. In 1900, there began a period of expansion and extension. Instead of the class work being limited to the winter time, such instruction was continued throughout the spring. Day work was also introduced and summer schools for boys were organized to supplement the work of the public schools. This bulletin discusses the educational work of the Young Men's Christian Associations. (Contains 14 tables and 2 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]
The Schools of Austria-Hungary. Bulletin, 1919, No. 54
Author: Pearson, Peter H.
Date: 1919-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Educational Change,Folk Schools,Clergy,School Councils,Social Change,Political Influences,Educational Administration,School Districts,Boards of Education,Specialists,Attendance,Laws,Teacher Salaries,Teacher Selection,Teacher Retirement,Discipline Policy,Administrative Organization,Governing Boards,War

The political changes now taking place in Austria-Hungary will be followed undoubtedly by far-reaching alterations in the school system, whereby old modes will be swept away and new ones inaugurated. In the present sketch the attempt is made to treat only such problems and movements as are likely to continue in some form and thereby maintain a living interest, even under a new political administration. Whatever the new political units may be, school men will continue to give attention to centralized control of schools as against local control, which is the substance of the State public school problem that has long occupied the attention of teachers in Austria. In Austria-Hungary the Ministry of Education exercised supreme control over all schools with the exception of certain institutions under the management of the Department of Agriculture. The immediate control was vested in the provincial legislature and carried out through (a) a school council for the crownland; (b) a district board for each district; and (c) a loco board for each community. The legislature selected the members of the crownland councils from the clergy, the citizens, and the specialists in education. The same authority also ratified the appointed membership of the district and local boards, determining the power vested in the several boards and the details of arrangements under which they discharged their duties. The school programs and schedules were drawn up under the direction of the Ministry of Education on the basis of outlines furnished by the crownland councils. The power of enacting laws for the folk school was apportioned between the State and the several Provinces, according to the constitution of 1867. The power of determining the principles was reserved to the State; all other matters, such as founding and maintaining schools, insuring attendance, inspection, fixing the legal status of teachers in respect to appointment, salaries, retirement, discipline--all these matters were left to the legislatures of the crownlands. (Contains 13 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]
The Administration of Correspondence-Study Departments of Universities and Colleges. Bulletin, 1919, No. 56
Author: Klein, Arthur J.
Date: 1919-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Educational History,Correspondence Study,College Instruction,College Administration,Program Administration,Administrative Organization,Educational Practices,Higher Education,Continuing Education,Records (Forms),Letters (Correspondence),Admission (School),School Registration,Educational Finance,Assignments,Instructional Materials,Questionnaires,Grading,Certification,Extension Education

This bulletin aims to describe the administrative practice and experience of the correspondence-study departments of the universities of the United States. Correspondence-study secretaries and extension division directors may find this experience and practice of use in meeting their own problems and in evolving their own administrative systems. Local conditions and resources are so different, personal preferences are so various, and the field for administrative development is so large, that few judgments have been expressed upon the practice here described. An attempt has been made to collect in systematic order the typical practices and methods of correspondence departments, rather than to attempt a statistical statement or tabulation of the extent of any of these practices and methods. The methods of particular institutions have been set down as typical, therefore, without mention of other institutions which follow the same method. (Contains 1 footnote.) [Best copy available has been provided.]
Educational Conditions in Japan. Bulletin, 1919, No. 57
Author: Montgomery, Walter A.
Date: 1919-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Rural Education,Vocational Schools,Foreign Countries,Middle Schools,Special Schools,General Education,Elementary Education,High Schools,Womens Education,Females,Colleges,Vocational Education,Technical Education

This bulletin discusses the educational conditions in Japan. Contents include: (1) General educational activities; (2) Elementary instruction; (3) Middle schools; (4) High schools for girls; (5) Higher schools; (6) Normal schools; (7) Special schools; (8) Vocational schools; (9) Technical continuation schools; (10) Higher education; and (11) Japanese educational work in Formosa. (Contains 5 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]