Publications

Summaries of States' ESSA School Quality/Student Success Measures
Memo · June 2018

The School Quality or Student Success (SQ/SS) indicator was one of the most talked about and biggest decisions that fell to the states in drafting their new ESSA accountability plans. This memo summarizes the chosen SQ/SS measures for each state, DC, and Puerto Rico.

Summaries of States' ESSA Accountability Plans
Memo · April 2017

On April 3, 2017, fourteen states and D.C. submitted their draft ESSA state accountability plans. This memo contains one-page summaries of each state's plan, focusing on four primary areas or “big decisions” that ESSA requires each state to address.

Mike Smith: The Need for Innovation in the National Strategy
Article · January 2006

In a commentary included in Education Week's 15-year retrospective on standards-based systemic reform, one of the authors of that strategy noted: It made no place for innovation. Mike Smith affirms the need for an element of innovation, and looked to the charter sector to provide that.

Schooling, Statistics, and Poverty: Can We Measure School Improvement (Raudenbush)
Report · April 2004

Under NCLB school quality is indicated by the percentage of students that tests reveal as proficient in various subject areas at a given time. School improvement is the rate at which this percentage increases. The problem is that equating percentage-proficient with school quality cannot withstand serious scientific scrutiny.

Sponsoring Charters: A Resource Guide for Minnesota Authorizers
Report · February 2004

A guide for charter school authorizing, from the decision to authorize through contract development. It covers how to assist and oversee the school, and clarifies the relationship to and duties of the state department of education, the sponsor and the board of the chartered school. It also explains the 'Sponsor-Initiated School,' whereby an authorizer actively solicits new school proposals.

New Dimensions of Sponsorship
Memo · April 2003

Since the late 1990s, there’s been growing discussion about the sponsor’s role – in the ongoing oversight as well as in its initial approval. This paper explores whether sponsors might also play an active role in soliciting proposals.

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