A Performance Audit of Charter School Oversight

A Performance Audit of Charter School Oversight PDF Author: Utah. Legislature. Office of the Legislative Auditor General
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Charter schools
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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A Performance Audit of Charter School Oversight

A Performance Audit of Charter School Oversight PDF Author: Utah. Legislature. Office of the Legislative Auditor General
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Charter schools
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Charter School Oversight

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Charter School Oversight PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Charter schools
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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California's Charter Schools

California's Charter Schools PDF Author: California. Bureau of State Audits
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Charter schools
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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California Charter Oversight

California Charter Oversight PDF Author: Rebecca E. Blanton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This study was mandated by SB537 (Simitian, Chapter 650, Stats. of 2007, codified at Ed. Code Section 47613), which requires the California Research Bureau (CRB) to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report on the key elements and actual costs of charter school oversight. Charter schools are public schools that are operated by entities other than the traditional school district. They are publicly funded, mandated to accept any student who applies, and cannot discriminate based on race, religion, sex, or geographic location. Charter schools are exempted from significant portions of the California Education Code, but are overseen by charter school authorizers. An authorizer is an entity--most often a school district--that approves the formation of a charter school and regularly reviews its academic and financial performance. Authorizers have the power to close underperforming charter schools. Both authorizers and charter schools receive state funds for their operations. Charter schools educate approximately six percent of all California students. Charter authorizers oversee the performance of these schools and are responsible for ensuring that low-performing schools are either improved or closed. Under the direction of the Legislature, CRB examined the relationship between charter authorizers and charter schools, with a special emphasis on financial arrangements that would increase the opportunity for oversight beyond the legislatively mandated oversight activities. Additionally, the Legislature requested that CRB determine if the current funding formula for charter oversight provides sufficient reimbursement for authorizer activities. Finally, CRB addressed the Legislature's request to review best practices for charter school oversight and make recommendations on improving oversight in California. This report presents four key findings. First, the author and her colleagues found that during their study period, authorizers varied widely in both the services they performed and the amounts they charged charter schools for oversight. While some authorizers reported that petition review accounted for less than $1,000 in costs, other authorizers reported petition reviews costing upwards of $112,500. Second, they uncovered no correlation between activities performed for oversight and cost of oversight among study participants. A majority of the respondents had not adopted guidelines to determine what activities or services should be paid for with money received for charter school oversight. Third, few respondents to their survey reported formally accounting for staff time and costs expended conducting charter school oversight. Hence they are unable to provide the Legislature with a meaningful estimate of the true costs of or sufficiency of funding for authorizers' charter school oversight. They found that authorizers ranged from zero to 17 full-time employees dedicated to oversight. While 61 of the 72 respondents were able to provide an estimate on expenditures to revenue ratios, only 16 authorizers reported accounting for their actual oversight costs. Fourth, they found that, while professionally-accepted standards for charter school oversight have begun to emerge, California charter authorizers vary in their adherence to these standards. Several staff at authorizing agencies CRB staff spoke with stated their agency had to "reinvent the wheel" when it came to establishing oversight practices and standards. While some authorizers utilize established professional standards, others create their own unique forms of oversight. SB537 requires CRB to make policy recommendations about the structure and function of charter school oversight. The lack of good information about the costs and revenues including the use of California Education Code section 47613 funding has limited the author's and her colleagues' ability to provide concrete guidance to the Legislature in some areas. Their recommendations are based on current, professionally-accepted standards in charter school authorization and the results of their survey findings. These are: (1) Make charters or charter petitions available to the public; (2) Improve oversight accounting for authorizer reimbursement funds; (3) Define reimbursable oversight activities under California Education Code section 47613; and (4) Use multiple metrics to evaluate charter school performance. Appended are: (1) Advisory Panel; (2) Charter School Authorizer Survey Tool; (3) State Funding Allotments for Oversight Activity; (4) Significant CA Charter School Legislation; (5) Aligned General Oversight Standards; (6) National Consensus Panel on Charter School Academic Quality/National Consensus Panel on Charter School Operational Quality; (7) NACSA Financial Red Flags; (8) Charter School Transparency Laws; (9) Additional Authorizing Experts; (10) Data Overview; and (11) Works Cited. (Contains 15 tables, 18 figures and 2 equations.) [For "California Charter Oversight: Key Elements and Actual Costs. CRB Briefly Stated," see ED528996.

Charter schools to enhance Education's monitoring and research, more charter schoollevel data are needed : report to the Secretary of Education.

Charter schools to enhance Education's monitoring and research, more charter schoollevel data are needed : report to the Secretary of Education. PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428930647
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Evaluation of Charter School Monitoring, Louisiana Department of Education

Evaluation of Charter School Monitoring, Louisiana Department of Education PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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"This report provides the results of our performance audit of the Louisiana Department of Education's (LDE) monitoring of charter schools. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor's 2013 performance audit on LDE's monitoring of charter schools1 authorized by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) recommended that LDE implement a more comprehensive process to annually assess charter schools' compliance with legal/contractual obligations (organizational performance).2 In its response, LDE stated that its new Charter School Performance Compact (CSPC), which was created3 by LDE and approved by BESE in January 2013, would satisfy this recommendation. We evaluated LDE's use of the CSPC to monitor BESE-authorized charter schools' organizational performance. BESE authorizes three of the six types of charter schools (types 2, 4, and 5). During the 2015- 16 academic year, there were approximately 53,000 students in 98 BESE-authorized charter schools. These schools received approximately $239 million in state general fund dollars (through the Minimum Foundation Program) and $231 million in local funds for a total of $470 million.4 Exhibit 1 summarizes the three types of charter schools authorized by BESE.."--Introduction.

Charter Schools

Charter Schools PDF Author: California. State Auditor (2013- )
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Charter schools
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Authorization and Monitoring of Charter Schools

Authorization and Monitoring of Charter Schools PDF Author: Georgia. Department of Audits and Accounts. Performance Audit Operations Division
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Charter schools
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Review of Charter School Oversight in Philadelphia

Review of Charter School Oversight in Philadelphia PDF Author: Alan Butkovitz
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437932010
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Use of Academic Performance in the Charter School Renewal Process, Louisiana Department of Education

Use of Academic Performance in the Charter School Renewal Process, Louisiana Department of Education PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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"We evaluated the Louisiana Department of Education’s (LDE) use of academic performance in the charter school renewal process. LDE’s process for renewing charter schools is important because the department is responsible for making a recommendation to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) about whether it should approve each charter school’s renewal application. This recommendation is based on a review of a school’s operations, including student academic performance, school financial performance, and compliance with various charter school requirements. According to BESE’s charter school regulations,1 academic performance is considered the primary indicator of school quality and, as a result, should play a key role in whether a charter school is recommended for renewal. BESE’s charter school regulations require LDE to monitor the performance of type 2, 4, and 5 charter schools and conduct renewal reviews of these schools’ charters. BESE is the authorizer for these three types of charter schools. From academic years 2011-12 through 2015- 16, there were 121 type 2, 4, and 5 charter schools that operated for at least one year, serving approximately 48,300 students per year. According to state law,2 at the end of a school’s charter term, BESE may renew the charter school after a thorough review. A charter school can be renewed for terms ranging from three to 10 years and cannot continue operating if not renewed. School Performance Scores (SPS) and their corresponding letter grades are used to determine the minimum length of a charter school’s renewal term. A charter school that meets expectations in other performance areas is eligible to have extra years added to the length of its charter term, as shown in Exhibit 1."--Introduction.