Focus Areas
Authorizing organizations are responsible for approving, monitoring, renewing and closing charter schools, and therefore play a fundamental role in the quality and accountability of charter schools. The National Charter School Resource Center provides easy access to high-quality resources to help the charter school community understand the role of authorization, best practices, key issues and research.
Operating a charter school is a challenging and complex enterprise that requires sophisticated knowledge of K-12 education and the day-to-day workings of a business with diverse stakeholders. The National Charter School Resource Center provides easy access to high-quality resources to help people running charter schools understand and execute their responsibilities when it comes to such issues as governance, compliance with laws and regulations, and fundraising.
Federal, state, and district policies can create barriers for charter schools
or they can encourage an environment in which all charter schools provide
students with high-quality educational options, have the opportunity to
expand, and are sustainable over the long-term. The National Charter School
Resource Center provides easy access to useful resources that will help the
charter school community understand the role of policy and how effective
policies can support the growth of high-quality charter schools.
Charter schools face unique challenges in helping English Language Learners (ELLs) improve their mastery of grade-level academic content at the same time that they increase their proficiency in English. The National Charter School Resource Center provides the charter school community with high-quality resources that describe federal laws and policies related to ELLs, highlight key research findings, and connect educators to resources they can access for more information.
Charter schools face unique and challenging needs related to facilities. The National Charter School Resource Center provides the charter school community with easy access to high-quality resources about the facilities planning process and financing options.
To be successful, charter schools must actively recruit, retain, and develop effective teachers and leaders. The National Charter School Resource Center provides easy access to high-quality resources to help the charter school community understand the critical role of human capital at each level of the school system.
U.S. armed forces personnel with highly mobile and stressful careers struggle to provide excellence and continuity in the education of their children. The National Charter School Resource Center develops and provides easy access to high-quality resources and information that facilitate understanding and integration of charter schools as an option for military families.
Successful charter models and practices can play a key role in turning around low-performing schools, one of the most persistent challenges in public education. The National Charter School Resource Center provides easy access to high-quality resources that offer context and background on school improvement and best practices for actions such as charter school start-ups, conversions and school transformations.
Charter schools face unique challenges in providing special education services that fulfill their responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and strengthen achievement for all students. The National Charter School Resource Center provides easy access to high-quality resources to help charter school communities understand the law and effective ways of meeting its requirements, as well as case studies and research.
This section of the Resource Center website contains several special content areas. Included in the resource library are Primers on special education developed by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.
Charter schools are publicly funded, independently operated schools that are allowed to operate with more autonomy than traditional public schools in exchange for increased accountability. In 1991, Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school law. Today, 41 states and the District of Columbia have similar laws. The National Charter School Resource Center is committed to providing high-quality and balanced resources for the charter school community. The Understanding Charter Schools focus area provides a range of resources that outline the basics about charter schools, review the findings from rigorous studies about charter school performance, and highlight profiles of successful charter schools.
