CSP announces it’s first “Closing the Gap” school list: Top 8 of 10 schools are charters

July 21st, 2010

closingthegap2010Minneapolis, MN . July 21, 2010. Charter School Partners today announced its first annual Closing the Gap schools list in which eight out of ten of the highest performing public schools in the state serving the neediest children in poverty are charter schools.

“The early results from the 2010 MCA-II scores are in and the headline clearly is this: while the 2010 test scores for Minneapolis and St. Paul were disappointingly flat from 2009, numerous charter schools showed solid and impressive gains in closing Minnesota’s achievement gap,” said Al Fan, Executive Director of Charter School Partners. “These results show great hope that a cadre of high-achieving charter schools are emerging in Minnesota focused on closing the achievement gap. We are developing a new Community of Excellence focused around charter schools”.

“Although we are a charter support organization,” said Fan, “we did not include any subjective or qualitative criteria to skew our list. We are simply looking at the raw numbers in Reading and Math in the state proficiency sores. When we do this, a story emerges and it is this: the highest performing public schools serving a high population of at-risk students are charter schools.”

Unlike other reports, most notable the July 1, 2010 Star Tribune, where seven out of ten Beating the Odds and Biggest Gains schools were charter schools, CSP used slightly different criteria by incorporating both Math and Reading scores to determine the rankings, versus one or the other. “By using both Math and Reading scores, a broader profile emerges”, said Fan.

Fan, noting that ‘high growth’ scores for schools are actually a more important criteria than simply reporting proficiency scores, said that “there are clear reasons why these schools have shown impressive growth gains from 2009 to 2010″.  Fan continued: “virtually all of the Closing the Gap schools growth gains are in the double digits, which is really remarkable.”

In addition to the test scores themselves, Fan said that he and his Charter School Partners team have been in and observed many of the individual schools and said that “there is a reason these schools are succeeding. Each of them have begun to implement national best practices including utilizing intense data-driven decision-making products and focusing on improving teacher quality. Most importantly, said Fan, each of these schools have incredibly strong leaders that instill a highly rigorous, whatever it takes, no-excuses culture that sets a high bar for students and teachers.”

Injecting a note of caution, Fan stated that “although these are good scores, they are not yet great scores. National Closing the Gap schools are consistently scoring in the high 80’s in test scores. Reflecting this concern, Mary Donaldson, Principal of the third highest scoring gap-closing school, St. Paul’s Concordia Creative Learning Academy, said “we improved but we are not where we need to be”.

Charter School Partners is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of high performing charters in Minnesota and increase the number of at-risk students being served by high performing charters schools.

Media struggles with how to report charter schools close-the-gap success

July 12th, 2010

Today’s MinnPost article, In search of the ’secret sauce’: Educators dissect how ‘beat the odds’ schools successfully raise test scores, reports on the July 1, 2010 Star Trib four column inches of coverage of the “eye popping” results of

"The beating-the-odds list shows the potential of the charter model to deliver better results. But we're not satisfied with these results. We know better is possible. 65% is good, but the best of the bests are reaching 80% plus."

"The beating-the-odds list shows the potential of the charter model to deliver better results. But we're not satisfied with these results. We know better is possible. 65% is good, but the best of the bests are reaching 80% plus."

some Minnesota schools, which named  the top 10 high-poverty metro-area performers in math and reading. Seven of the schools on each list were charters and the remaining three on each were St. Paul public schools. Five schools made both lists. At seven of the schools, most students are learning English.

Meanwhile, three articles in yesterday’s Pioneer Press (herehere and here), one of which is headlined Seven high-poverty schools defying the odds, DOESN’T EVEN MENTION A CHARTER SCHOOL!  How bizarre is that?

Another weekend piece was the Star Tribune’s editorial  headline A lack of progress in too many schools in which they argued for faster action needed to get more state students to grade level. The success of charter schools was mentioned.

Here is the Star Tribune’s Beating the Odds chart and the schools that showed  the The Biggest Gains over 2009.

One plug here for one of Charter School Partners most successful Beating the Odds schools that did not make the list.  It appears as though the Star Tribune did not report the solid success of the Concordia Creative Learning Academy (CCLA), a k-8 St. Paul charter school serving 84% free and reduced lunch (FRL) population because their cut-off was 85% FRL. If CCLA was included they would have been in the top five for math (68%) and number one in reading proficiency (77%) serving students in poverty. Perhaps most impressive was school leader Mary Donaldson’s response to the test scores:  “we improved but not near where we need to be”.  Congrats to Mary and her magnificent team at CCLA for their ongoing commitment to achievement!

Minnesota charter schools score impressive gains in state assessments while overall gains flat

July 1st, 2010

The early results from the 2010  MCA-II scores are in and the headline clearly is that while test scores for Minneapolis and St. Paul were disappointingly flat from 2009, numerous charter schools showed solid and impressive gains in closing Minnesota’s achievement gap.

A chart in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune shows that 7 of the  top 10 urban public schools that are “Beating the Odds” in Reading and 8 of the top 10 that are “Beating the Odds” in Math were charter schools. Similar results are in for those schools that have shown the biggest gains from the 2009 to 2010 school years: 7 out of 10 in Math and 6 out of 10 in Reading were charter schools.

While CSP has never had a charter v. district perspective, we believe that while an achievement focus has been increasingly embraced by both districts and charters, charters, by definition, can simply respond quicker and with more agility to the needs of the traditionally underserved communities in our urban areas.   These results reflect this dynamic.

Congratulations particularly to Tarek Ibn Ziyad (TIZA), Global Academy, Hiawatha Leadership Academy, Concordia Creative Learning Academy, Higher Ground, Harvest Prep/Seed Academy, Cedar Riverside Community, New Spirit, Lighthouse Academy of Nations, Partnership Academy and several others.

We will be exploring several different angles of the MCA-II scores in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Year of the Authorizer: And so it begins…

June 4th, 2010

Today’s Star Trib article highlights the issue we’ve recently identified as the most profound change to impact the charter movement in Minnesota’s since its founding in 1992: implementation of the authorizer provision from the 2009 charter law.  It essentially requires all 52 authorizers to ‘re-up’ if they wish to continue to be authorizers.

It’s tough stuff coming from the Minnesota Department of Education, but we applaud them for their courage. They’ve worked very closely with the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) to develop the criteria they are using. MDE’s effort is  the bringing together of the collective experience and wisdom of a two decade effort in forty states as to how authorizers can and should be THE vehicle to ensure charter school quality that will move the needle on achievement.

This is going to be a tough ride. It goes against the core of our Minnesota Nice culture.  But it is a critical and worthwhile change if we are to achieve the promise of high achieving charters schools in Minnesota in the coming years.

Year of the Authorizer: MDE toughens up authorizer oversight. Profound impact on charters expected.

May 20th, 2010

During the final days of the legislative session, the Minnesota Department of Education quietly announced the first six authorizers, formerly called “sponsors”, approved by the state under the new charter law passed in 2009 (see below).

Essentially, all of the 52 present authorizers, which include districts, colleges/universities and large non-profit organizations must ‘re-up’ and be approved by the state over the next 6-12 months, if they choose to continue to serve as an authorizer.  In addition, the new law calls for three ’single purpose authorizers’, a new category of authorizer, whose sole mission is charters schools. Presently, colleges and universities and non-profits like Volunteers of America, YMCA, etc,. are authorizers but the organizations also have other activities and services they provide.

There are indications from MDE that their criteria for approval of authorizers will be very strict. In fact, we believe this MDE authorizer process has the potential to have the most profound impact on improving the quality of charter schools than perhaps any other single activity since the first charter school started in Minnesota in 1992.

It is expected that numerous authorizers will not resubmit their application and that some will be denied. This could cause a major shake-up in the charter community as ‘orphan charters’ are created — schools that no longer have an authorizer. The new law addresses the issue. In short, ‘quality, high achieving’ charters should have no problem in being allowed to migrate to a different authorizer. Lower performing charter schools may have a little more challenge in this process.

Stay tuned. This is a huge issue.

Here is the press release from MDE sent out last week.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Bill Walsh

May 13, 2010

(651) 582-1145

Stronger Oversight Coming to Minnesota Charter Schools: New Authorizers Approved

First charter school authorizers approved by Minnesota Department of Education under new law

(Roseville, MN) The Minnesota Department of Education approved the first six charter school authorizers under a new law passed by the legislature in the 2009 session. All charter school authorizers (formerly known as “sponsors”) have to be approved by the department by June 30, 2011. The new criteria for authorizers include stricter financial and academic controls and adherence to national standards for charter school oversight and quality.

In the first round of applications, there were 13 organizations that applied to become charter school authorizers. The six approved today to authorize charter schools are:

• Anoka Technical College

• Friends of Education

• Minneapolis Public Schools

• Novation Education Opportunities

• Student Achievement Minnesota

• Volunteers of America - Minnesota

“Today marks a new beginning for stronger oversight of Minnesota’s charter schools,” said Commissioner Alice Seagren. “These new charter school authorizers now meet the highest standards of quality charter school oversight in the nation.”

The department worked with the National Association of Charter School Authorizers’ (NACSA) using their Principles and Standards for Quality Authorizing. Minnesota’s new charter school law was given the Award for Excellence in Improving Policy by NACSA in 2009.

The new law puts in place more robust oversight responsibilities in the areas of capacity and infrastructure, the application process, contracting, ongoing oversight and evaluation, and renewal of charter schools.

The law shifts the focus of the department from approving every individual charter school to approving charter school authorizers, who in turn will be responsible for approving charter schools and holding them accountable. The law also allows the state to approve up to three single-purpose authorizers, whose sole purpose will be to charter schools, adding to Minnesota’s charter school options.

The organizations not approved were sent detailed comments from the reviewers and will have 20 business days to resubmit their applications.

- xxx -

Session Ends. Progress on ALT CERT but No k-12 Ed bill. Gov nixes Race to the Top submission

May 19th, 2010

After a short special session on Monday to address the budget impasse, the 2010 legislative session ended without passing a k-12 Education bill. The coalition supporting ALT CERT can certainly claim a moral victory as it became one of the few critical issues for both houses in the final days and hours of the session. Most importantly, hearts and minds were changed about what true alternative pathways to teaching can do to help close the achievement gap.

Daniel Sellers of the Twin Cities Teach for America and Kelly Wolfe, a TFA alum, did a remarkable job in letting the legislature know the facts regarding TFA and the rigor of the proposed bill. A great coalition has been formed.  The fight to help Minnesota’s most underserved students continues.

Thanks to all.

11:00 am. Update.  Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the Governor just announced that because there were no real education reforms that passed the legislature this session, the state would not be reapplying for the $175 million in federal Race to the Top monies. See Star Trib article.

2:00 pm. Update. Ed Minn had its own press conference blasting the Governor for not submitting the RTTT package to the feds. Disingenuous is a word that comes to mind.   Of course all know it was Tom Dooher and the teachers unions single-handedly killing such close-the-gap reforms as alternative teacher certification. Brazenly, Dooher now uses the reformers language by saying his proposals close the achievement gap. Dooher was right, however, in suggesting that Pawlenty had eight years to deal with the achievement gap. Yes, what might have been. MPR News Q.

Now Minnesota almost stands alone in its recalcitrance.

  • Last week in Colorado, the state legislature passed one of the strongest education reform bills in the country, linking student achievement directly to teacher evaluations and allowing districts to rescind tenure from teachers after two “ineffective” evaluations.
  • Last week in New York, the state education department joined with the statewide teachers union to advance key areas in the state’s Race to the Top application. The proposal would establish a comprehensive evaluation system for teachers and principals based on multiple measures, with student test scores accounting for up to 20 percent of the teacher evaluation.
  • On March 29, 2010, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law a RTTT legislative package that improves the state’s lowest-performing schools to boost student achievement, sets better evaluation criteria for teachers and principals, and creates new opportunities for high-quality teacher preparation.
  • In Kentucky, the education commissioner is calling on the legislature to repeal their ban on charter schools in their upcoming special session.
  • Earlier this year the Massachusetts legislature passed a RTTT package that will double the number of charter school openings and provide superintendents with new intervention powers in the state’s most underperforming districts.

Alternative teacher certification bill splits DFL caucus. Becomes leading issue in final days of the legislative session.

May 12th, 2010
Late Tuesday night, the House debated the alternative teacher certification amendment that would have reinstated ALT CERT into the k-12 Education bill.   There were many passionate speeches supporting the amendment by members of both parties. But despite the growing and frankly overwhelming support for underserved kids, in the end DFL caucus politics prevailed. We were told that leadership, um, that would be the recently Minnesota Education endorsed gubernatorial candidate, yes, the Speaker, threatened to kill the entire k-12 bill if it included ALT CERT.  Here’s a Politics in Minnesota story from this morning.
DFL leadership weighed in. If the k-12 Education bill has ALT CERT, kill it. The amendment went down 65-68. Ed Minn won this battle. Will they lose the war? Waiting for the Senate and hopefully a Conference Committee to bring it back.

DFL leadership weighed in. 'If the k-12 Education bill has ALT CERT, kill it'. The amendment went down 65-68. Waiting for the Senate and hopefully a conference committee to keep it alive.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, Senator Poggemiller is delaying the bill, some say holding the bill hostage, awaiting the larger Guv v. DFL legislative drama to be resolved. Here’s a YouTube post in which Senator Poggemiller is on record strongly supporting alternative teacher licensing. Perhaps he needs to be reminded of his support?

Check out this WCCO-TV story on the ALT CERT bill from last night. Senator Bonoff is again spectacular in her support of ALT CERT.  Note WCCO-TV’s Pat Kessler comments:

“the three things you need to know are:
– That alternative teachers would be required to meet — and exceed — current teacher standards.
– They have to hold a bachelor’s degree with at least a 3.0 GPA.
– And they have to pass the same teacher exams as everyone else. “

Education Minnesota’s $85,000.00 tv buy this week (well over $500,000.00 in the last couple of months) didn’t tell you that, of course.

Finally, here again are the links to the tv and radio ads put out by the Minnesotans for Excellent Classroom Educators and Leaders (MN-Excel) in support of ALT CERT.

Text Box:

Click here to listen to the television ad.

Click here to listen to the radio ad.

Alternative Teacher Certification: Days of Decision for assisting underserved kids

May 10th, 2010

Saturday, May 8, 2010.  12:01 am. After a dramatic vote early Friday morning in the House Ways and Means Committee to maintain the ALT CERT language in the bill,  supporters of Education Minnesota introduced  a new bill, H.F. 3833,  very late Friday night, deleting the ALT CERT provision. Despite gallant efforts by our team, this passed. Long-time legislators said they’ve never seen such strong union pressure on any bill — ever. Monday both bills go to the floor. The battle is on.

Friday, May 7, 2010 These are days of decision for assisting the state’s most underserved students.  Today’s Star Trib (State needs new paths for teachers. Lawmakers should ignore union blitz on alternative licensing) and yesterday’s  Pioneer Press (Open the door to hearty souls who want to teach) weigh in heavily in support of making  programs such as Teach for America a permanent fixture in addressing the state’s huge achievement gap.

Thursday, May 6, 2010. Pioneer Press article on yesterday’s press conference and our coalition’s effort to fight back against Ed Minn’s TV blitz.

WEDNESDAY, May 5, 2010. Remarkable press event today on alternative teacher certification at the Capitol.   Check out this tv and radio ad released today to counter Education Minnesota’s huge television effort to kill ALT CERT.

Television and radio ads urge lawmakers to pass alternative teacher certification

Education advocates today released television and radio ads to urge the Minnesota Legislature to pass measures that would allow innovative programs, such as Teach For America, to bring more teachers to Minnesota, and ensure that rigorous standards remain in place for qualified individuals to become certified teachers.  The ads will start running May 6 on television and radio stations in the Twin Cities metro area.

Text Box:

Click here to listen to the television ad.

Click here to listen to the radio ad.

Minnesota has the second-largest achievement gap in country, with low-income minority students scoring up to 50 percentage points lower than their more affluent white peers on state exams.  Research demonstrates that teachers are the critical factor for determining a student’s academic success.  This legislation would increase the number of highly-qualified teacher candidates, giving underserved students a chance to succeed.

Daniel Sellers of Teach for America

Daniel Sellers of Teach for America

Senators Bonoff leads a broad coalition in support of alternative  teacher certification.

Senators Bonoff and Saltzman, Representatives Mariani and Slocum lead a broad bi-partisan coalition in support of alternative teacher certification.

Please join rally at Capitol for ALT CERT on Wednesday, May 5th!

May 3rd, 2010

To Charter School Partner Schools and Friends of CSP,

This Wednesday at 10:30 in Rm #125 in the Capitol Building, a press conference is being held to support passage for the Alternative Teacher Certification bill.

MN has struggled for too long to close the Achievement Gap with little to show for our efforts. We need to ensure that high quality organizations like Teach for America with a proven track record of success stay in MN and continue to offer high quality teacher talent for our charter schools.

There is a broad and diverse coalition supporting the ALT CERT legislation.  Minnesotans for Excellent Classroom Educators and Leaders is made up of community and minority organizations, urban school districts, and many foundations and businesses. These include:

Education Organizations

• Minnesota School Boards Association

• Hamline University

• Charter School Partners

Community Organizations/Foundations

• Northside Policy Action Coalition

Members include: PEACE Foundation, Northway Community Trust, West Broadway Coalition, Minneapolis Urban League, NorthPoint Health & Wellness Inc, Turning Point, Emerge Community Development, KMOJ Communications

• The Itasca Project

• Minneapolis Foundation

• The McKnight Foundation

• The Saint Paul Foundation

• The Robbins, Kaplan, Miller, and Ciresi Foundation for Children

• Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

• Minnesota Business Partnership

Community Corporations

• General Mills

• Medtronic

• TCF Bank

• Best Buy

• US Bank

• Allianz

Schools/Individuals

• Minneapolis Public Schools

• Brooklyn Center Public Schools

• Charter Schools:

o Saint Paul: Achieve Language Academy; Higher Ground Academy; Hmong College Prep Academy, College Prep Elementary

o Minneapolis: Harvest Preparatory and BEST Academy; Hiawatha Leadership Academy; KIPP: Stand Academy; Lighthouse Academy

Community Members

• Alberto Monserrate, CEO and President of Latino Communications

• Don Samuels, Minneapolis City Council Member, Fifth Ward

• Eric Mahmoud, President and CEO of SEED Academy and Harvest Preparatory School

• Sondra Samuels, President, PEACE Foundation

• Sheila Wright, Dean, School of Education, Hamline University

We need your support on Wednesday!  Please invite your parents, community members, and board members to come to the Capitol and join our rally to pass Alternative Certification.

Best Regards,

Al Fan

Charter School Partners - Executive Director

Education officials, lawmakers, promise to work together on education reform

April 21st, 2010

by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio (photos by Charter School Partners)

April 20, 2010

St. Paul, Minn. — Key state lawmakers and teachers union leaders are pledging to work together on a second application for a federal “Race to the Top” education grant.

They started the process Tuesday during a joint House-Senate committee hearing on a package of proposed school reforms aimed at strengthening that application.

Teach for America Director Daniel Sellers outlining the alternative teacher certification proposal to the joint Senate/House Committee. ALT CERT is part of the the new Race to the Top package developed by Governor Pawlenty.

Teach for America Minnesota Director Daniel Sellers outlining the alternative teacher certification proposal to the joint House/Senate Committee. ALT CERT is part of the the new Race to the Top package developed by Governor Pawlenty.

Minnesota’s first-round failure to win a competitive grant prompted plenty of finger-pointing, as well as calls for bolder changes in state education policy.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has blamed the state teachers union, Education Minnesota, for standing in the way of reforms he says are essential. The Republican governor wants teacher pay linked more closely to student performance, a rating system for teacher effectiveness, alternative teacher licensing and an end to the current form of tenure.

Pawlenty’s Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said Minnesota has to make up a lot of ground to compete in round two.

“My message is that we can’t be milquetoast. We have to really not be afraid to take this as far as we can in Minnesota,” said Seagren. “We’ve got the power, the will and the examples to do this. But I think we have to be very honest, that we are going to have to have a lot of points to be competitive.”

Minnesota could win up to $175 million over four years under the Race to the Top program. The round two application is due by June 1.

Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, chair of the House K-12 Education Finance Division, said that application needs to balance the governor’s desire for boldness with the union’s willingness to change. Greiling said the points gained from changing state policy could be lost without teacher support.

“The main way to win no matter what, is if we come together on behalf of what is really good for our students,” said Greiling. “Closing the achievement gap, having all students have good teachers and succeed, and use research — not just whims of whatever anyone is asking us to do, including the federal government, that none of us think have all of the answers in the world for everything.”

Greiling is counting on the teachers union, as well as the governor, to show some willingness to compromise. So far, the union isn’t making any commitments.

Education Minnesota President Tom Dooher told legislators they should focus on creating a classroom environment where students succeed and the achievement gap narrows.

“We also have to distinguish between three things — meaningful change that will get things better; harmful change that will set us back; and meaningless change that will make people feel good but not help students learn,” Dooher said.

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Senator LeRoy Stumpf, Rep.Mindy Greiling, Education Commissioner Alice Seagren and Education  Minnesota President Tom Dooher at the joint Senate/House hearing on Race to the Top. According to MPR,

“In an unusual move for a witness at a legislative hearing, Dooher was literally seated at the same table as legislators. Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina, said he’s never seen a special interest group get such treatment. He called the seating arrangement awkward.”It’s either a very diplomatic effort by the Legislature to include a very powerful special interest group, or it’s a less-than-subtle reminder that there is one political power here that has ultimate veto authority over these topics and this discussion,” Michel said.

Tom Dooher said he had no idea where he would be sitting until he arrived at the meeting. He also denied that his organization has disproportionate influence on the debate.

Campaign finance reports show Education Minnesota spent roughly $860,000 on political activity in 2008. The union also ranks at or near the top in annual spending on lobbying at the State Capitol.