It's good to see some charter schools making efforts to share best practices.
When America's first charter school law was passed in Minnesota 25 years ago, charters were envisioned as laboratories of innovation that would help inform practices in the broader public education system. It hasn't worked out that way, however, and the relationship between charters and district schools has instead been one of competition and acrimony. But as charters celebrate their silver anniversary, some of the nation's largest networks are now charting a course back to that original vision.
“What KIPP and Success are doing to share curricula materials is critically important. Across the ideological spectrum there is a growing realization that curriculum counts.”
Some departments of education are now actively supporting district-charter collaboration. In New York, the city is taking steps in that direction with the help of Collaborate NYC, a new nonprofit that brings educators from district and charter schools together to share best practices. The state Department of Education recently announced a $4 million, three-year initiative to encourage charter schools in New York City and Rochester to join forces to improve student achievement. But more important is the steps charters are taking by themselves to share materials and pedagogy.
A few years ago, three of the nation's highest-performing charter school networks: Uncommon Schools, KIPP, and Achievement First, banded together to launch the Relay Graduate School of Education, which now offers classroom-focused teacher training to over 2,000 charter and district educators across the country. Uncommon also conducts workshops around the country emphasizing the "Teach Like a Champion" teaching methods made famous by the network's co-founder, Doug Lemov. Achievement First runs a year-long residency program for principals in traditional district schools in New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport, Connecticut.
KIPP, the nation's largest charter network, has set up Beyond KIPP, a free resource library...
Read the entire piece here at U.S. News & World Report
______________________
Charles Sahm is the director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.
This piece originally appeared in U.S. News and World Report