State education leaders and Governor Jack Markell today unveiled a new set of standards to monitor the performance of charter schools authorized by the State Board of Education.
The standards were developed over the past year after a report by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) found that the state Department of Education conducted only limited monitoring of charter schools’ organizational and financial performance, lacked a consensus on how to monitor academic standards, and did not define measurable and attainable goals for schools seeking to have their charters renewed.
“This comprehensive framework will set the academic, fiscal and governance standards by which all state-authorized charter schools will be evaluated,” Gov. Markell said. He announced the new guidelines during a program at the Academy of Dover Charter School.
Teri Quinn Gray and John Carwell discuss the benefits of the new charter school framework
Teri Quinn Gray and John Carwell discuss the benefits of the new charter school framework
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The “performance framework,” as the standards are known, “provides a consistent, holistic way of evaluating performance and setting expectations,” both for the schools and for the authorizer, the State Board of Education, said Teri Quinn Gray, the state board president.
Leaders of the 19 charter schools authorized by the state board (three others are chartered by the Red Clay Consolidated School District) participated in developing the standards, Gray said.
“Now we’ll know exactly what they’re looking for” when a school’s charter is up for renewal, said Kendall Massett, executive director of the Delaware Charter Schools Network.
With the new standards, charter schools can “absolutely” expect more vigorous and consistent monitoring from the state than they have seen in the past, said John Carwell, head of the Department of Education’s charter schools office.
“There has been no change in the law, but our mindset has changed,” said Donna Johnson, the state board’s executive director.
Taking Measure of Delaware Charter Schools
Charter schools, established under a state law passed in 1995, are independent public schools, free of most state and school district rules and regulations, which are encouraged to use different, innovative or proven teaching and learning methods. Initially, these schools receive a state charter for four years; subsequent renewals occur every five years.
After a charter school’s application is approved, its operators sign a “performance agreement” with the state. Under Department of Education regulations, the agreement spells out “organizational, academic and financial expectations” during the term of the charter. Details of the performance agreement may vary from school to school, due to differences in curriculum, student population and organizational structure.
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The performance framework will be used to measure compliance with the performance agreement. It is divided into three sections — academic, financial and organizational — and each section includes a series of specific performance standards. Academic standards focus on student achievement and growth. Financial standards focus on the school’s working capital, cash flow, debt and enrollments. Organizational standards focus on whether the school is complying with relevant state and federal laws and regulations.
Data for the framework will be compiled annually, so schools will have a clear understanding of their performance trends as they approach the renewal year for their charters, Johnson said.
“This forces the Department of Education to look at each school every year, so there should be no surprises in the fifth year,” Massett said.
All of the data used in the framework is already collected by the state, so the new monitoring system should not create any reporting burdens for charter schools, Johnson said.
“I hope it continues that way,” said Chuck Taylor, former managing director of the Providence Creek Academy in Clayton and president of the Delaware Charter Schools Network.
For most of the academic measurements, a school will receive one of four grades: exceeds standard, meets standard, does not meet standard, or falls far below standard. For the financial measurements, there are three grades: meets standard, does not meet standard or falls far below standard. For the organizational measurements, the grades are: meets standard or does not meet standard.
Two or more negative grades for a school on the financial or organizational sections will trigger a further review of its performance in those areas, Carwell said. A weighted formula will be used for the academic measures to determine whether a school should be subject to state assistance or intervention, he added.
Strengths and Limitations of New Performance Measures
Massett said that charter school leaders are generally pleased with the framework because it should provide consistent measurements on an annual basis.
“It gives a broader picture, not at a point in time, but a look at a full year,” she said. The academic measurements should be especially valuable, she said, because they give “a big picture look to the school leader without the leader having to do the research.”
One of the framework’s strengths, Gray said, is its use of multiple measures to assess a charter school’s academic performance.
State and national officials offer thoughts on Delaware's new charter framework.
State and national officials offer thoughts on Delaware's new charter framework.
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Using scores from the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS) student testing program as its starting point, the framework looks at the percentage of students who are achieving proficiency on the tests, the percentage that are meeting the growth levels anticipated for them, whether the students are making enough annual growth to maintain or achieve proficiency within three years or by 10th grade, and how well student performance compares with that of traditional public schools in the district where they are located.
Additional measures for high school programs track graduation rates and performance on college entrance exams.
Several of the academic measures focus specifically on progress and achievement of the students who rank in the school’s bottom quarter of academic achievement, Carwell said.
“Whatever the school, they all have a lowest quartile,” he said, “and we’re holding all charter schools accountable for moving their lowest performing students forward.”
Massett did express concern that while the framework “covers a good amount of the things that are going on in our charter schools,” its data-driven approach does not account for some essential components of a school’s culture. “You can’t measure laughter, you can’t measure smiles, you can’t measure tears of joy,” she said, “but if you feel it, if you see it, I think the culture piece is just as important as all the test scores.”
Carwell also suggested that charter school boards of directors could use the framework as a key component in evaluating the performance of school leaders. “It is a way of holding management accountable to a consistent set of expectations,” he said.
Taylor agreed, to some extent, noting the importance of charter schools having solid organization and strong management — two of the three key areas in the framework. “It’s a good start,” he said, but it does not measure all of the things a school leader must do. “Charter school leaders wear many hats,” he said. “If they wear five, they really wear ten.”
Developing a Framework for the Future
Ratings on the framework, officials stressed, will provide guideposts but will not serve as the final determinant of whether a school’s charter is renewed, permitted to expand or placed in review status because of performance deficiencies. Those decisions are made by the State Board of Education, following a recommendation by the secretary of education.
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The framework will not be used in the review of renewal applications of the Thomas Edison Charter School in Wilmington and Sussex Academy of Arts & Sciences in Georgetown because their applications were due in early September, before the final version of the framework was completed.
In addition to the performance framework, educators today also unveiled a new application form for organizers of new charter schools to use. The form does not change any of the criteria for charter applicants, but it provides “a clearer set of expectations” and seeks “a more concise business plan with academic, organizational and financial strategies,” Carwell said.
The framework, Taylor said, “is a work in progress,” an evaluation tool that can be adjusted as the Department of Education and charter schools gain experience with how it works.
And, Gray added, if the framework works well, it could be adapted for use in measuring the performance of traditional public schools.
Colorado is now using performance measurements originally designed for its charter schools to assess the performance of its entire public school system, Carwell said.
“If the framework leads to enhancing the productivity of charter schools, enhancing student achievement,” Johnson said, “then we want that for all our schools.”
