Member Quality Standards & Supports

Member Quality Standards & Supports

While autonomy and innovation have always been at the heart of what we do in the charter school space, accountability has been the other critical side of this equation. The encouraging news is that the state’s triennial report has regularly shown charter school performance not only outpacing non-charter performance in aggregate but also for our state’s most historically underserved student populations. Coming out of the pandemic, we are seeing some of the largest positive deltas in charter vs non-charter performance we’ve ever seen. But regardless of overall successes we still have work to do to hold ourselves accountable in specific areas, particularly when it comes to chronically underperforming schools.

As highlighted in our March MOVE newsletter - the League is launching Member Quality Standards & Supports in the next school year (2023-24) to begin addressing this issue. The program creates standards against which we measure ourselves, while offering additional support services to help improve chronically underperforming charter schools. The core idea behind the program is to work proactively with these schools over a four-year timeline through intensive support and accountability, thereby increasing the value to students and the charter ecosystem overall. Current data indicates that less than ten percent of schools will be impacted by this program.

Among several reasons for the Member Council’s decision to launch the program was that just before the pandemic started, the number of charters that fell into our state’s lowest two performance categories was four percentage points higher than that found in non-charter public schools (12% vs 8%, respectively).

The following are high-level components of the program. For more detailed information regarding the initial standards, evaluation criteria, and the support details please see this document (PDF).

1. Performance Standards

Those schools that are in the state’s two lowest performance categories (Priority Improvement and Turnaround) and remain there persistently will be engaged in a quality improvement process with the League. The state’s performance evaluation system is not perfect, but along with other measures this initial standard will be used to flag schools at risk. Schools may submit additional measures of student achievement to supplement the state’s lowest tier performance categories.

2. Enhanced Support

The League already plays an essential role as a support organization to member schools, and in this case League staff will be providing enhanced, intensive support services for the most challenged schools. This will include initial assessment, review of additional information on quality, School Quality Reviews at subsidized or reduced rates, and then specific remediation on issues as co-determined within the process.

3. Accountability to All Schools

Beginning in the fall of 2023 with preliminary performance results, the League will reach out to schools in the lowest tiers. When final SPF results are available each year, member schools that fall below that standard will be engaged further to determine a course of action. If significant underperformance persists for a period of more than 3-4 years, the League will engage with our Member Council to assess whether that school still qualifies for League membership and support.

4. The Importance of Quality for the Entire Sector

Initially, information from this program is not intended to go beyond League walls. Rather, as staff work to initiate the program it will focus on coming together to pull out of any downward cycles. The Member Council and League staff will play an active and ongoing role in the program’s oversight and implementation to ensure that the program is implemented for the benefit of individual schools and the overall charter sector.

The vision of the Colorado League of Charter Schools is for all Colorado students to have access to high-quality, public school options. Making good on this vision requires that we look to our membership to ensure we are consistently fulfilling our promises and doing our part to attain this objective. Nothing less than the future of our students, our state, and our society depends on it.

This is the driving force and urgency behind the new Member Quality Standards & Supports. Please feel free to reach out to us directly, READ MORE (PDF) about the program, and please join us for an informational webinar on January 25, 2024 from 12noon to 1 PM. RSVP HERE. We look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

The Colorado League of Charter Schools