School Choice & Charters Report Roundup

Charter-Management Organizations

By Debra Viadero — July 13, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Organizations that manage charter schools are trying out some innovative practices and experiencing some growing pains as they seek to extend their reach, according to interim findings from a national study.

Charter schools are public schools allowed to operate largely free of the rules that govern regular public schools. Charter-management organizations, or CMOs, are nonprofit entities that manage them.

The study, released last month by the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington and the Princeton, N.J.-based Mathematica Policy Research, draws on visits, interviews, and surveys with charter schools and CMOs across the country. Researchers also reviewed charter operators’ financial data and interviewed officials in school districts.

They found that CMOs are using data to improve schooling, emphasizing continuous improvement, and are more likely than regular public school districts to pay teachers based on performance.

As the charter sector grows, though, charter operators are also subjecting their affiliated schools to increasing amounts of oversight, relying heavily on philanthropic donations to fund their central offices, and struggling to extend schooling models built around elementary and middle schools to high schools, the report says. It also says CMOs face challenges in finding ways to reduce staff burnout and enlarge the pool of capable educators from which they hire.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the July 14, 2010 edition of Education Week as Charter-Management Organizations

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reimagining Grading in K-12 Schools: A Conversation on the Value of Standards-Based Grading
Hear from K-12 educational leaders and explore standards-based grading benefits and implementation strategies and challenges
Content provided by Otus
Reading & Literacy Webinar How Background Knowledge Fits Into the ‘Science of Reading’ 
Join our webinar to learn research-backed strategies for enhancing reading comprehension and building cultural responsiveness in the classroom.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Innovative Strategies for Data & Assessments
Join our webinar to learn strategies for actionable instruction using assessment & analysis.
Content provided by Edulastic

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Choice & Charters Explainer Education Savings Accounts, Explained
Four states this year have passed laws allowing any parent to spend public dollars on private school tuition or other education expenses.
17 min read
Illustration with scales holding books and cash
Liz Yap/Education Week/iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters A Major Reversal on Religious Charter Schools in Oklahoma
The attorney general withdrew his predecessor's opinion that religious groups could not be excluded from the state charter school program.
4 min read
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is pictured Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, during an interview in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond withdrew his predecessor's opinion that had fueled hopes the state might approve religious charter schools.
Sue Ogrocki/AP
School Choice & Charters Opinion A Charter Academy Delivering a ‘Classical’ Education Grows in Popularity
At its core, Great Hearts Academy seeks to foster virtuous human beings, explains the schools' CEO.
5 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School Choice & Charters A Proposed Catholic Charter School Is New Test for Religion and Public Education
With a favorable state attorney general's opinion in hand, Catholic officials are set to ask for approval of the first religious charter.
10 min read
Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor speaks during a bill signing ceremony for a bill making it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Tuesday, April 12, 2022, in Oklahoma City.
Then-Oklahoma Attorney General John M. O'Connor, shown last year in Oklahoma City, issued an advisory opinion last December that bolstered the prospects of charter schools sponsored by religious institutions.
Sue Ogrocki/AP