Report highlights the experience of two nonselective virtual charter schools making online schooling work for their student.
Strong Teachers, Good Design Important for Virtual Charters to Succeed
Education Dive, July 11, 2019, by Shawna De La Rosa Students in online charter schools have generally performed less well than their peers in brick-and-mortar classrooms, but this doesn’t have to be the case. With specific strategies, online schools can be a viable alternative to traditional public education, according to a new report from Public […]
Meeting the Potential of a Virtual Education: Lessons from Operators Making Online Schooling Work
In general, virtual charter schools have had poor outcomes. A 2015 study from CREDO (the Center for Research on Education Outcomes) found that, on average, students enrolled in online charter schools lost 180 days of learning in math and 72 days of learning in reading compared to similar students in brick-and-mortar schools. But virtual schools […]
Forging Parent Partnerships to Better Serve Students with Special Needs
Walton Family Foundation, July, 9, 2019, by Johannah Chase Report details how charter schools and parents can work together to improve outcomes for students with disabilities Parents are the experts on their children. They know the hidden strengths they possess, talents that schools might not easily unearth. They understand the unique challenges their children experience in a […]
Why Charter Champions Should Partner with Parents to Support Students with Disabilities: New Report from Public Impact
In Better Together: Why Charter School Champions and Parent Advocates Should Partner to Better Support Students with Disabilities, Public Impact issues a call to action for charter champions—including charter associations, city-based education organizations and other reform organizations that see charters as an integral piece of a thriving system of public schools—to form and deepen partnerships […]
How Charter School Facility Incubators Can Overcome Common Charter Barrier: Case Study from Public Impact
Charter schools frequently confront inadequate facility funding, few affordable and suitable buildings, inadequate facility expertise among charter founders, and gradual expansion of enrollment and grade levels that requires more or new space. Charter school facility incubators provide affordable, short-term space for new and growing charter schools. In a new report, Charter School Facility Incubators: A […]
Parent Power: To Improve Special Education in Charter Schools, Tap Students’ Original Advocates — Their Families — Report Says
The 74, June 28, 2019, by Beth Hawkins When it comes to living up to their obligation to serve students with disabilities, public charter schools face a host of challenges. In addition to the perennial headache of underfunding, there are bureaucratic constraints, a woeful lack of teacher preparation in special education and difficulty finding and […]
Public Impact Welcomes Fifth Cohort of Opportunity Culture Fellows
Public Impact announces with pleasure our fifth cohort of Opportunity Culture Fellows. This year’s 15 fellows are Opportunity Culture multi-classroom leaders and principals who have achieved strong results and been leaders in their schools and districts. Fellows provide support to their cohort, take one another’s ideas back to their schools, write columns about their experiences, and speak locally […]
Opportunity Culture News: New Opportunity Culture Site, Multi-Classroom Leaders Share Impact
Opportunity Culture schools and educators continue to attract attention…check out these posts from new sites, multi-classroom leader columns, and an exciting award for a multi-classroom leader. Lexington City Schools’ Superintendent on Working with Us to Implement Opportunity Culture (no longer available online): Dr. Anitra Wells, superintendent of Lexington City Schools, discusses the district’s plans to […]
Arkansas Opportunity Culture Pilot Adds 3 Districts and 8 North Little Rock Schools
Opportunity Culture continues to grow: After an initial year at North Little Rock Middle School, the Arkansas Department of Education has expanded its Opportunity Culture pilot to three more districts. The school districts of Forrest City, Lead Hill, and Lincoln are joining the Opportunity Culture initiative—to which the state committed in its Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) […]
Teacher Awarded $175,000 Grant
Rocky Mount Telegram, March 12, 2019, by Amelia Harper One Phillips Middle School teacher received the surprise of a lifetime Monday when she was told she had just won a $175,000 grant for herself, her school and for Edgecombe County Public Schools. Casandra Cherry is in her second year as the math multi-classroom leader at […]
Learning to Lead as a Multi-Classroom Leader
By Hadley Moore In 2015–16, I was a high school English teacher at an elite, private college-prep high school. In 2017-18, I became an assistant principal at an inner-city elementary school. How on earth did that happen? I loved being a high school English teacher. It was my dream job, molding and shaping young people’s […]