Charter schools face a variety of challenges at each stage of growth. This panel session will outline the challenges charters face during phases of growth from start-up to expansion, through maturity. Our panel of experts will also offer best practices learned from their experiences, and used to achieve success.
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Start-up Fact - NC study of 70 charter schools – 87% of school failures happen in the first three years.
Growth Fact –
Sustainable Maturity Fact –
Charter schools are challenged in a number of operational areas. Interestingly, 42% of charter schools fail due to financial issues. Charter school capital was created for the sole purpose of funding charter schools and we believe we can play a key role is assisting charter schools to overcome many of the finance challenges they face. Although this pie charter shows distinct boundaries between many of the identified categories, we all know financial issues can contribute across the board. Specific example could be the mismanagement of funds due to the challenge associated with cash flow. Additionally, the need for funding of technology to support academic initiatives. Finally, our experience indicates that the challenges associated with facilities tends to begin in the lack of flexible financing approaches that can address the unique needs of charter schools.
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Entering into Growth phase
Schools 3-5 years in operation
Adapt to new education standards
Continued growth
Strain on schools to sustain
What are the common misperceptions schools may face during the Growth phase?
· “After the third year, all will be in place and its smooth sailing!”
· Performance targets and accountability requirements will be the same as when the charter was approved.
· Professional and leadership development will be limited, because teachers and principals will be fully trained.
· Routines and systems will be in place and there’s no need to change.
· There will be sufficient funds from our operating revenue to support enrollment expansion and related capital requirements.
· Facility upgrades will be minimal, if at all.
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What are the challenges schools face during the growth phase?
· Adjusting to higher expectations and new and/or changing state/sponsor accountability requirements
· The ability to advance from incremental progress in student performance to higher levels of performance and expectations
· Managing with limited resources and often, facing greater demands for services
· Inefficient or inadequate operating and data systems (including student assessment systems)
· The annual loss of high quality teachers and leaders
· The ability to recruit, select and hire new teachers for schools with increasing enrollments
· The lack of adequate capital for FFE, marketing and curriculum for increasing student enrollments or campuses
· Inadequate funding and/or lack of quality professional development and leadership training necessary to meet new expectations, curriculum and standards.
What can schools do to meet these challenges?
· Build in ‘longer term’ expectations for continuous growth and development and create the right school culture from the beginning.
· School Improvement plans must have a clear delineation of the multi-year goals and measures, and must include clear strategies, actions, milestones and evaluation component.
· Schools and their staff must be prepared for the “roll out” of Common Core State Standards and the implications for curriculum, leader and teacher knowledge and skills, and how schools and classrooms should be organized.
· Greater access to resources and expanding the learning environment via technology.
· Conduct an annual “Quality Review” grounded in school standards of excellence.
· Make “Capacity Building” and on-going priority (on-going training and development of school leaders and teachers, staff recruitment).
· Create structures within schools that enable teachers to track their students’ progress and advance changes in practice on a routine basis.
· Improved ‘assessment’ systems that provide teachers and school leaders with user friendly, real time data and information.
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What approach did you take and what are some best practices you can provide?
· Prepare staff for the opening of school throughout the summer (July, early August and prior to school opening), rather than an intensive 5-10 days of training just prior to opening of school.
· School Culture: Must be grounded in core values and all must know your routines and procedures and a shared language or terms. Create the “Wilson (your school’s name) Way” or another research based program.
· Your school improvement plan should be a “live” document that includes a roadmap and key milestones that be celebrated as they are accomplished.
· Focus on continuous leadership development and growth. We have created a program with several components, that include: Leadership Standards of Practice (and an accompanying set of rubrics), select conference/s participation, assignment of a mentor, exposure to high performing learning environments).
· Focus teacher training and development on the essential changes that are unfolding: Common Core, Inquiry Based learning and Project Based learning approaches, understanding and using assessment data appropriately, etc.
· Create PLCs (professional learning communities) and/or “data teams”, and a school schedule that enables them to operate effectively and efficiently.
· Expand your community’s vision of the learning environment to one that is 24/7 and includes the use of technology and other educational institutions within your community.
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What are some best practices you can provide?
Define your objectives clearly and communicate extensively (both internally and externally). Celebrate your successes and analyze your failures. Develop a data-driven culture but make sure you retain the passion that got you started. Most importantly, take what you do very seriously without taking yourself too seriously. At Mosaica, we identified the eight “pillars” that define what we do. Our most important pillar is to focus on student achievement. Everything we do is driven by that goal. Professional development, parental and community involvement, the use of technology in the delivery of instruction, a safe and secure learning environment, the use of our Paragon® humanities curriculum and a extended learning times are also pillars, where we seek to employ best key practices. In each of those areas, we regularly assess our performance and work to improve.
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This presentation is available for download as well. Details on last slide.