By Tovah Gottesman and Kelsey Boivin, The Finance Project

Technology permeates our daily lives. Everywhere we turn there is some new gadget on the market or a new application available for download. More importantly, these devices and software are revolutionizing how students are taught in schools and homes. As educators, it is impossible to avoid engaging with the digital age. Today’s children are adept users of technology, and many are more technologically literate than their parents and teachers.

At the local, state, and national levels, schools actively seek effective strategies for incorporating technology into the classroom. States are pushing policies to give students more access to digital learning and online classes. More schools are applying for the federal government’s E-Rate program  that subsidizes school and library technology purchases. The recent announcement of the second round grantee winners for the federal Investing in Innovation (I3) contest is a reminder of the growing emphasis on revamping the ways in which children are educated.

To help America remain the top economic and technological leader of the global marketplace, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is a top priority on the public education agenda. Rather than fight the inevitable, many teachers, principals, and researchers have decided to embrace recent technology to enhance instruction, engage students, and meet today’s educational challenges. As iPads replace textbooks and SMART Boards replace chalkboards, technology is reinvigorating the classroom experience.

While school leaders should not let their fears or uncertainties about technology prevent them from integrating technology into the classroom, technology plans must address concerns among teachers, parents, and school boards regarding students’ possible misuse of technology and access to unreliable and inappropriate information.  School leaders need to create plans that address use, misuse, security and privacy issues as well as a technology code of conduct agreement for both students and teachers.

It is important that independent charter schools keep abreast of technological advances and work to create more technologically friendly classrooms. It is also critical to involve teachers, parents, community members, and students in selecting the new technology for their schools

When creating a yearly budget, it is important to consider technology expenses and to plan for new purchases, investments, and professional development for teachers. Leaders should plan for multiple types of investment, including hardware as well as service and support contracts, replacement and update costs, software, and site licenses. Yet we all know that in reality, school budgets never have enough to go around.  Therefore, to build a technologically supportive environment, school leaders often have to find other sources of funding. Several grants are available to charter schools at the national, rural, and local levels that support the incorporation of technology in schools. In addition, corporations and organizations such as Intel, eSchool News, and Edutopia offer funding resources and guidance.

Several studies have found that implementing technology within classrooms leads to increases in learning by students. However, as any cautious school leader or teacher will tell say, technology alone will not improve learning. It is, in fact, when technology is used to enhance instruction, to deepen learning, and to broaden understanding that greater learning happens. In other words, curricula must drive technology, not the other way around. A simple one-size fits all plan will not do. With this in mind, school administrators need to identify instructional and student needs first  and, then through thoughtful planning, integrate technology in a manner that will support learning and instruction.

School administrators who develop a culture that embraces technology for its positive potential ensure successful and seamless integration. Studies show that the commitment and interest of the principal is crucial if teachers are to play an active role in technology integration. It is important to recognize that not all teachers may be motivated to use technology. Further, teachers may push back against plans that they perceive to be rigid and heavy-handed.               

The simple presence of technology is not enough to ensure its effective use. Teachers and other school employees must know how to weave technology into their lesson plans and daily instruction. Several online resources offer pre-written lesson plans and power point presentations, as well as tutorials for including different technologies within the classroom. Others provide general support, ideas for the use of specific types of technology for reaching specific teaching goals, and access to a host of other resources for teachers interested in building their technological repertoire. Most importantly, school administrators must provide teachers ample time to conceptualize, explore, and practice using new technology in their teaching plans.

Formative and summative evaluations are an essential element in supporting the integration of technology into teaching. The dialogue about and design of the evaluation module should begin when the technology program is in its infancy stage and continue throughout (and beyond) program implementation. Key stakeholders, including teachers, should play an integral role in the creation and monitoring of the strategic evaluation plan. Once implemented, charter school leaders should take time to monitor and evaluate the impact of the technology on instruction and learning. By doing so, school leaders will have the information necessary to help secure and maintain current or future funding for technology.

Technology is changing the way we think about educating students. Cost is an obstacle for many public schools; however, charter school leaders cannot ignore the value that technology may bring to the table. It gives teachers the ability to reach different types of learners and personalize instruction.

Before investing in classroom technology, charter school leaders and teachers need to devote time to assessing the school’s needs for technology and creating a comprehensive integration plan. One helpful tool is EdTech Locator. Lastly, many charter school educators find it helpful to participate in the nationwide Digital Learning Day on February 1^st.

What steps has your school taken to integrate technology into the curriculum? We invite you to share your experience and thoughts with us.

The views expressed in Charter Notebook blogs represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association or the U.S. Department of Education.

By Rachel Scott, The Finance Project

Connectedness to the learning community, excitement about what each new school day can bring, positive relationships with role models, consistent performance, a commitment to come back next year... these are some of the outcomes independent charter schools hope to elicit for kids in their schools. With a rate of 25% teacher turnover (compared to 14% at public schools) in one study, charter school leaders must also think about how to bring about those sorts of outcomes for their teachers. While schools’ charters often give administrators the flexibility to ensure that the teachers they employ have the right skills and the right "fit" with a school, the majority of turnover can still be attributed to voluntary choice by the teachers.

Beyond the obvious costs of frequently searching for, hiring, and orienting new teachers to charter schools, teacher attrition has other costs that are harder to quantify.  David Stuit and Thomas M. Smith at Vanderbilt University (2009) recap the findings of several researchers who find that teachers with the strongest academic achievement themselves are the ones most likely to leave charter schools (and the teaching profession altogether) -- a move that pulls some of the most qualified teachers out of charter schools. Perhaps just as costly, when teachers don't return, the critical network of adults at any given charter school who know the children well and are invested in their success as they grow erodes.

Causes for Teacher Attrition
Discovering the reasons why good teachers leave is essential to knowing what leaders of independent charter schools can do to keep them.  Research on the subject is readily available. It is worth noting, however, that the examination of teacher attrition in charter schools is often connected to other political or ideological 'baggage." Charter school leaders must understand that teacher retention is, to a large degree, linked to other sensitive issues like unionization of charter school teachers and comparative assessments of student achievement between independent charter schools, managed multi-site charters, and public schools.

Several studies point to the relatively young age of charter school teachers (compared to public school teachers) as the strongest predictor of turnover, as it is with teachers in any setting. Other factors correlated with teacher attrition in charter schools include: low number of years at the school, non-certified teachers or teachers teaching outside their certification areas, and "teachers' relative satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the school's: 1) mission, 2) perceived ability to attain the mission, and 3) administration and governance" (Miron and Applegate; Western Michigan University, 2007).)  One study of teacher attrition in charter schools in Wisconsin that controls for many of these factors concludes that "high turnover rates in Wisconsin charter schools appear to be a disadvantaged school problem rather than a charter school problem per se"-- pointing perhaps to increased needs for more wraparound services for students and families, as well as teacher support and training in cultural competence.

Others posit that teachers are less likely to want to stay in charter schools where they tend to be paid less than in public schools and are more likely to be without union protection. In fact, the Century Foundation suggests that 90% of charter schools are non-unionized environments, and many teachers cite job security and protection of wages and benefits as primary factors as they select jobs.

What Indie Charter School Leaders Can Do to Keep Good Teachers

• Maximize wages and benefits to attract qualified teachers as you develop your school budget. Look at what district teachers and other charter school teachers are being paid in your region, and ensure your salary and benefits packages are competitive. Within the range of salaries you can offer, ideally you should be able to hire a mix of seasoned and new teachers. Low-balling salaries makes it far more likely that your school would not be the employer of choice for qualified candidates and it reduces the number of experienced teachers in a school who can serve as mentors for younger teachers. Using the Cost Estimation Tool and Revenue Planning Tools developed by the National Resource Center on Charter Schools can help you realistically estimate costs and plan for ways to beef up your funding. 
• Give teachers a voice in developing school policies and curricula. For many charter school teachers, the autonomy and opportunity to be creative in their work is what draws them to their jobs in the first place!  So, ask teachers about the ways they would like to be involved in decision making. Solicit their input frequently and openly as you make decisions. Consider using an outside facilitator to help you get their input for very critical decisions. Let teachers know you value their input and how you plan to use it; if you ultimately make a decision that contradicts their input, let them know in a respectful way why you decided that way. Ensure that teachers' voices are directly and regularly heard by your governance body.
• Make teacher buy-in and integral aspect of the mission of your school and give teachers the support they need to execute that mission. Find interesting and innovative ways to connect meetings and professional development opportunities to the school's mission in order to keep teachers excited about what you're accomplishing together. Resist the urge to do most of the talking when you convene staff. Build a strengths-based and transparent system to support teachers who need help. Visit classrooms often. Recognize teachers who are executing the mission in creative, effective and fun ways.
•  Leverage available supports for high-need or vulnerable students and their families. Teachers in charter schools often put in longer hours for less pay than their district counterparts.  Their jobs can be overwhelming -- especially for young and inexperienced teachers. Rarely are teachers also trained social workers. So, ensure that your school offers adequate resources to meet the needs of English language learners and special education students. If there are other basic unmet needs for students and families, such as health and mental health care, child care, food supports, or housing, look for community nonprofits or community action agency partners who can help meet these needs. In some cases, the school itself can access federal, state or local funds to meet these needs. Check out issue-specific funding guides, like LEARNING TO READ: A Guide to Federal Funding for Grade-Level Reading Proficiency, for ideas on how to bring in resources for students and families with specific needs.

Human resource management may or may not be your leadership strong suit. But knowledge of the research that exists on teacher attrition in charter schools along with careful planning to avoid it can help keep great teachers at your school, enrich your organizational culture, and ensure that students at your charter school benefit from having the best available teachers in their classrooms.  

The views expressed in Charter Notebook blogs represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association or the U.S. Department of Education.

Shawn Stelow Griffin, The Finance Project

Some argue based on recent policy changes and press coverage that there is a bias towards charter schools run by Charter Management Organizations (CMOs). Based on a new report, those favoring CMO’s on the basis of academic achievement should reconsider their position. The National Study of Charter Management Organization (CMO) Effectiveness: Charter School Management Organizations: Diverse Strategies and Diverse Student Impacts shows that CMO charter schools are not performing significantly better than their district school, or their independent charter school peers.

The study, co-written by Mathematica and the Center for Reinventing Public Education, took a comprehensive look at student achievement in schools run by 40 CMOs. The study dug into five key “drivers” the study’s authors hypothesized would have the most significant impact on student achievement:

•  An emphasis on school-wide behavior policies;
• Teacher coaching and mentoring;
•  Increased instructional time;
•  Regular use of formative assessment; and
• Performance-based compensation.

The study found that of the drivers only the emphasis on school-wide behavior policies and teacher coaching and mentoring had statistically significant impact on student achievement. 

So What?  

While this study focused on CMO charter schools, there are some takeaways for leaders of independent charter schools. The successful strategies, as is often the case with education reform approaches, can be widely implemented.

Successful Strategies: 

• Comprehensive Behavior Policies—Zero-tolerance policies, behavior codes or specific interventions that offer incentives and clear consequences, engaging parents as partners to manage school and individual student behavior netted an increase both in reading and math scores.
• Expanded Teacher Support and Review—Charter management organizations that conducted frequent review of teacher lesson plans, classroom observation, and teacher mentorship and coaching appear to correlate to increased student achievement.

These two achievement-boosting strategies can be implemented in any charter school, regardless of structure.

Strategies that did not net significant differences:  

• Defining a CMO-wide educational approach and/or curriculum
• Performance-based teacher compensation
• Frequent formative student assessments
•  More hours of annual instruction (there were positive results in math achievement, but its hard to separate this variable from comprehensive behavior policies for causality).

As with the successful strategies, the above strategies, that did not show significant improvement in student achievement, are implemented by district schools and independent charter schools as well as CMOs.

The study’s authors noted that a comparison of successful strategies in independent charter schools as well as CMO charter schools is a future direction they will pursue in their research. It will be interesting to see what the data show in relationship to this question.

What’s the Takeaway?

The data collected in this study support those who posit that without an orderly and safe environment and high-quality challenging instruction; curriculum, testing programs, and time on task do not make a significant positive impact on student achievement. These two variables are within every leader’s ability to control.

The views expressed in Charter Notebook blogs represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association or the U.S. Department of Education.

By Rachel Scott, The Finance Project

Launching an independent charter school can be very much like walking a tightrope without a net. Charter school operators are often easily pulled from side to side as they navigate the school year to meet the needs of kids, manage the expectations of parents, balance complex financial and human resources issues, and, perhaps just as likely, unplugging sinks in their spare time!

Whether chaos brings out your best or your worst, as the leader of an independent charter school you have the responsibility to hold the unique pedagogical vision of your school and ensure the organization learns from its wobbles across the tightrope. At the heart of every charter school is an idea so exciting it kept someone awake at night to bring it into fruition. How does a charter school operator keep that vision vibrant and moving forward in the face of innumerable crises and competing demands on time that might pull you off balance?

Rarely can an independent charter school be successful without at least some form or combination of three types of planning:

• Strategic planning
• Governance planning
• Sustainability planning

Strategic planning focuses on where you are as an organization and spells out the overarching strategies and primary action steps that get you where you want to be within a certain planning period, such as three years. A strategic plan is not the same thing as an action plan or a workplan; it’s a high-level, goal-oriented plan that includes meaningful progress measures or milestones and is most successfully undertaken by a diverse group of people (even students and family members!) dedicated to the success of the school. For instance, adding grade levels to your school over time is too important and complex for someone’s ‘to-do” list; the process takes research, time, collaboration and buy-in, as well as coordination with the other goals of the charter school. Ideally, staff and the board check in on the plan’s progress at least quarterly.

Governance planning ensures that you have the board you need to effectively support the school in accomplishing goals and can help school leaders keep abreast of new issues that impact its success.  Using the strategic plan as its guide, the board for an independent charter school can start with an honest self-assessment of their strengths and areas for improvement. A good governance plan maximizes the ability of the board to advance the school through strategic relationship building, strong fiscal management, and enhanced capacities identified in the strategic plan (such as fundraising or media training or better community outreach). Governance plans can include board training, member recruitment, and succession planning; as well as the development of necessary policies and procedures. Ideally, the plan helps your Board to stay out of “the weeds” of endless bylaws discussion or other details; instead, it should help the Board help you at the highest level to maintain and execute the vision for the school. See Brian Carpenter’s article, Why Most Charter School Boards are Ineffective—And What to Do About It for a provocative take on this subject.

Sustainability planning marries your long-term programmatic plans with strategic financing. Thoughtful cross-walking of your independent charter school’s current operations and future strategic goals with realistic projections of what it will costs to implement those goals yields you a longer term projection of how much funding you will need to support what specific activities. Looking at short- and long-term gaps in funding, you can develop a specialized plan for grantseeking, fundraising, or partnering that meet the school’s needs for monetary and non-monetary resources long after the current school year has come and gone. More and more sustainability planning tools are being developed for charter schools, like The Finance Project’s Revenue Planning Tool for Charter School Operators and consultant Holly Hart’s Overview of Sustainable Charter Schools.

Specific Planning Tips for Indie Charters

• Keep your planning streamlined and balanced with implementation. We all know people and systems that plan everything to death. Don’t let protracted or overly complicated planning get in the way of ‘doing.’ However, indie charter schools have a lot on the line to just “wing it.” Design a balanced process and engage a team balanced with ‘planners’ and ‘doers.’

• Recognize that you are in very different positions from planning leaders in public school systems and multi-site charter school operators (as if it weren’t obvious enough!). A poorly planned public school will still function because the system will pull it along. This difference means you have fewer resources with which to plan and smaller margins of error; however, you also have a smaller “universe” you are working to impact. In fact, visionary planning for change can be far more impactful within an independent charter school than is planning for a monolithic or “replicated” system.
• Ensure that any planning effort is responsive enough to where your school is in its development. Brand new schools, for instance, need planning that is sensitive to monthly cash flow and can quickly identify future shortfalls; Boards for those schools can’t afford to postpone fiscal training for members to another year. A school further down the path can begin to look outside the walls of the school for more partnering opportunities from a stronger position of power than can a school still figuring out its internal systems.

This blog post is part of the Charter Notebook, sponsored by the Network of Independent Charter Schools, a project of the Center for Educational Innovation - Public Education Association.

The views expressed in Charter Notebook blogs represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association or the U.S. Department of Education.