'Portfolio' Idea Gaining Favor in Some Cities

With urban school districts wrestling with how to raise student achievement, education leaders are showing growing interest in the notion of creating what some are calling a diverse “portfolio” of publicly financed schools.

New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore are among the districts pursuing strategies, largely focused on high schools, to open new schools, bring in outside providers to run some of them, and offer a broader array of choices to families.

Philanthropies like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York are making grants to underwrite such efforts, with an increased emphasis on ensuring that the new options are viewed as part of a districtwide strategy to improve student outcomes. The portfolio idea envisions holding schools accountable and removing those from the mix that are...