About Us

Our Vision

Innovative and effective public charter schools.

The National Charter School Resource Center (Resource Center) serves as a national center to provide on-demand resources, information, and technical assistance to support successful planning, authorizing, implementation, and sustainability of high-quality charter schools; to share evaluations on the effects of charter schools; and to disseminate information about successful practices in charter schools.

The Resource Center is funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program and operated by Learning Point Associates, an affiliate of the American Institutes for Research. The contract for the Resource Center began October 1, 2009 and will last for five years.

Our Resources

The Resource Center's website provides a clearinghouse of high-quality resources to support the charter school community. We recognize that charter school leaders and staff are busy operating their schools and do not have time to sift through all of the available information on the web. To support the work of charter school leaders, we scan publicly available resources on an ongoing basis, identify the highest quality resources from leading researchers and practitioners, and then post those resources on our website. We also publish monthly newsletters, provide technical assistance, and host webinars and events on topics that are of interest to the charter school community.

Our Team

• American Institutes for Research manages the National Charter School Resource Center contract, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Tammie Knights is the Director of the National Charter School Resource Center.
• The Center on Reinventing Public Education will author future versions of Hopes, Fears, & Reality with funding from the Resource Center.
• The Colorado League of Charter Schools leads the implementation of a Resource Center survey of charter school facilities in several states.
• Forum One assists with the design and development of the Resource Center website.
• JM Consulting Inc. serves as the external evaluator for the Resource Center.
• The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools leads the delivery of the Resource Center's technical assistance and support for charter support organizations.
• The National Association of Charter School Authorizers leads the delivery of the Resource Center's technical assistance and support for charter school authorizers.
• The National Association of State Directors of Special Education supports the Resource Center's technical assistance activities related to special education and charter schools.
• Public Impact authors Resource Center publications and supports the development of the Authorizer Resource.

Our National Advisory Board Members

Eileen Ahearn, Project Director, National Association of State Directors of Special Education

Mashea Ashton, Partner, Newark Charter School Fund

Corey Carlisle, Director, Federal Policy and Government Affairs, Low Income Investment Fund

Myrna Castrejón, Senior Vice President, Development and Outreach, California Charter Schools Association

Jim Goenner, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Charter Schools Institute

Kevin Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Charter School Growth Fund

Alex Johnston, Outgoing Chief Executive Officer, ConnCAN

Josh Kern, Founder, Thurgood Marshall Academy

Robin Lake, Director, Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington–Bothell

Alex Medler, Vice President of Research, National Association of Charter School Authorizers

Cindy Murphy, Director of Grants for Federal Charter School Programs, Minnesota Department of Education

Eric Paisner, Vice President of Knowledge and Partnerships, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Meg Palisoc, Teacher, Co-Founder, and Chief Executive Officer, Synergy Academies

Jim Peyser, Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund

Delia Pompa, Senior Vice-President of Programs, National Council of La Raza

Eric Premack, Executive Director and Founder, Charter School Development Center

Don Shalvey, Deputy Director, U.S. Programs, Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

David Umansky, Chief Executive Officer, Civic Builders