Sponsor Readings - Resources and Guides

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Age3/Grade3 Schools: A new approach to early literacy

It would be wonderful to close the achievement gap...before there is one. Now when children walk into elementary school for the first time the achievement gap is so large that some never recover. The "Age 3 to Grade 3 Model" restructures the school, using existing financing, so that the literacy spans the 'early' years and the 'school' years. The model calls for restructuring child care, Head Start and other pre-K initiatives. Kindergarten literacy readiness is defined based on the "Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI's)." Grade 1-3 reading targets are based on the AIMSweb passages aligned with state standards (r < .75). Response to Intervention (RtI) is used through the entire school. Training, coaching and mentoring is provided frequently to all staff.

Boards of Education and Teachers Have Choices, Too. (pdf)

When people think about 'choice they probably think first about students and families. But school boards have options, too; have several ways to arrange its offerings. The school board need not feel that the only schools that are its schools are the schools it owns and runs. Schools the board charters are, equally, part of its program of local public education. And sometimes it is easier for a board to change its program through chartering than by an effort to change an existing, administered school. Teachers, too, have more choices than they might think. By forming professional partnerships teachers can move into real professional roles. See the TPP section of this site.

Cost of Sponsoring Charter Schools. (pdf)

Chartering cannot work without quality sponsoring/authorizing. Quality sponsoring requires good systems, competent people and time. That means: money. We studied what it cost three Minnesota sponsors to review applications, develop contracts and oversee schools, over a three-year period. The financial commitment varies as the functions performed change from year to year. We believe that when it was completed this was the only study of its kind in the United States.

District-Initiated Chartered Schools. (pdf)

Some districts see chartering as a part of their strategy for change and improvement. Here we review three Minnesota districts that sponsor chartered schools: Faribault, Hopkins and Waseca. The 'common market' approach - pooling the courses, facilities, programs and transportation of district, chartered, private and home schooling in Faribault is particularly striking.

Publications of the National Association of Charter Schools (NACSA). (link)

NACSA has numerous excellent publications on sponsoring schools.

Response to Intervention; A new approach to special education

One of the aspects of education that has remained almost unchanged during the past 30 years is the special education process. The "Response to Intervention (RtI)" model is a lifeline to practices that will result in fewer students being referred for special education evaluation, it removes the reliance on discriminatory IQ tests and other norm referenced tests from the evaluation model and instead initiates "problem solving" strategies and frequently collected data used to inform instruction in regular classrooms. RtI requires the kind of "testing" that teachers learn to love. RtI brings special education into the classroom with the rest of education rather than having it's "private segregated silo." RtI is a significant improvement but schools are slow to grasp this new opportunity. This document discusses why this model is actually "whole school reform" and how it brings together NCLB, special education, ELL and other programs providing academic support to students.

Restructuring Our High Schools for the 21st Century: Creating ‘Grade 11-13’ Schools. (pdf)

The current model of "high school" exists in its current design because....that's the way it always has been; holding students through 12th grade even if they can move faster. In 1988 the Minnesota Post-secondary Enrollment Options Program (PSEO) broke the myth that only a few bright high school students could possibly do well in college-level work. The Grade 11-13 model does more than let students take college classes....it restructures both the high school and the first year of college, un-duplicating the curriculum. Pre-calculus is only a college course as is French 4 and Astronomy. High school classes are the general education or intro courses. By the mid-11th grade, all students are taking college level classes. Some students might not graduate from high school. Does it matter that they do not have a high school diploma if they have a college degree?

School/Sponsor Contract

The most important decisions are reflected in the contract developed between the school and the sponsor. The contract details both the accountability of the school and the responsibilities of the sponsor—and the accountability of the sponsor to the school. Accountability includes: the mission/goals of the school; governance; student and school performance; finance; and operations. For each there are performance measures, with special performance measures for the start-up year when the school is getting organized.

Sponsoring Chartered Schools: A Planning Tool for Sponsors. (pdf)

When an organization considers whether to charter a school it frequently does not understand what sponsoring involves, or know its own capability to be a good sponsor. This Planning Tool for Sponsors is actually an organization-analysis tool. It identifies the numerous sponsoring duties; asks whether the organization has the capacity to perform each responsibility, who in the organization would perform the responsibility, whether time is available for them to do so, and estimates the cost.

Sponsoring Chartered Schools: A Resource Guide for Minnesota Chartering Agencies. (pdf)

This is a step-by-step analysis of sponsoring, from the decision to sponsor through the stages of public information, application review and contract development. It covers how to assist and oversee the school, down to the point of charter renewal. Since sponsoring (authorizing) is a new concept in most states, it is important to define organizational responsibilities. This clarifies the relationships and duties of the state department of education, the sponsor and the board of the chartered school. It explains a new way a sponsor can produce a new schools: This is the 'Sponsor-Initiated School'. Rather than wait for a proposal to be submitted to it, the sponsor determines the types of schools it wants to have created; then requests proposals from around the country (or around the world). The sponsor then selects from the very best proposals and awards them chartered school status.

Standards for Quality Sponsoring of Chartered Schools. (pdf)

This guide and self-evaluation rubric is intended to identify the indicators for quality charter school sponsoring in Minnesota, specify the criteria that defines each indicator, identify the incentives for why a sponsor would want to meet the quality sponsoring indicators, and develop a process by which sponsors can ascertain whether they are meeting these quality indicators.

Volunteers of America "Charter School Sponsor Guide." (pdf)

This guide was developed by VOA-Minnesota as an example of what a sponsor guide might look like. VOA is one of Minnesota's largest and most competent sponsors. The guide demonstrates that "sponsoring" is a transparent process and is ongoing. The performance of a chartered school develops, improves; so should the sponsor's oversight of the school. The VOA Guide includes its actual review procedures from beginning to....never an end!