Charter School Support

iSuccess is a Community Based Partnership with turnkey education solutions work. One of many services is to support Charter Schools at risk. We have a network of resources through our Education Management Partners. The iSuccess Personalized Learning Labs solutions are flexible enough so that nothing falls between the cracks. We can also assist with the accreditation and recovery process. 

In an artical Three Signs That a Proposed Charter School Is at Risk of Failing,  analysts Anna Nicotera and David Stuit investigated that very question, examining more than six hundred charter school applications across four  states. They found three “risk factors” in approved applications that were significant predictors of a school’s future weak performance in its  first years of operation:

1. 1. Lack of identified leadership: Charter applications that propose a self-managed school without naming a school leader.

2. 2. High risk, low dose: Charter applications that  propose to serve at-risk pupils but plan to employ “low dose” academic  programs that do not include sufficient academic supports, such as  intensive small-group instruction or extensive individual tutoring.

3. 3. A child-centered curriculum: Charter applications  that propose to deploy child-centered, inquiry-based pedagogies, such as  Montessori, Waldorf, Paideia, or experiential programs.

Further, when an application displayed two or more of these risk factors, the likelihood of low performance rose to 80 percent.

The study also found that the following indicators, among others, made it more likely that an application would be rejected entirely:

• A lack of evidence that the school will start with a sound financial foundation;

• No description of how the school will use data to evaluate educators or inform instruction;

• No discussion of how the school will create and sustain a culture of high expectations; and

• No plans to hire a management organization to run the school.

The appearance of these risk and rejection factors should lead to considerably deeper inquiry, heightened due diligence, and perhaps a requirement for additional information. These results are meant to  enhance an authorizer’s existing review procedures—not to discourage innovation and experimentation within the charter realm going forward.

Deciding whether to give the green light to a new charter school is a  weighty decision. This report gives authorizers, operators, and  advocates one more tool in their toolkit.

iSuccess is a Global Community Education Provider with Charter School Management Service Consultants that are available to help.