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Check out the St. Louis Post-Dispatch front page article on the future of charter schools in St. Louis.
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Over the past few weeks, we have outlined some of the critical elements to Shearwater High School’s future success. Today, we would like to wrap up the series by walking you through one of the challenges we faced as an organization. Through this example, you will see how asking for help and utilizing promising practices allowed us to create a model we have confidence in.
Shearwater High School is geared towards disconnected youth in the City of St. Louis. This means students who are out-of-school, homeless, getting too old for foster care, and those who need to make money. Our promise is to graduate our students poised for success – that is, ready for work and college, and prepared to take on daily living.
While we are confident that disconnected youth can attend and succeed in college, we struggled with how to help our students develop that same confidence. At this point, we predict that few of our students will believe in college as a next step for them. Some will have never met a college graduate. The majority will have never been involved in the college access programs that may or may not be offered by their former high schools.
But, given today’s job market, we could not drop the “college-able” part of our school’s focus. Today, two out of three jobs in our country require some formal education past high school[1].
We needed help. Unsure of the solution ourselves, we looked to the community for advice. “How do we help our students believe college is an option for them?” we asked. They told us to bring our students on field trips to local college campuses and introduce them to college students. Find people in our students’ neighborhoods who had graduated from college to serve as role models. Others even told us to enroll our students in a few classes at a local college or university.
They were right. Our students need exposure to college to make them believe that it is a possibility for them. What if we set up shop right on a college campus?
Thinking this was a good idea, we took it to St. Louis Community College. They’ve shared our vision ever since. Today, Shearwater and St. Louis Community college are working hard to make sure that our students will have a place on their city campus.
This past fall, one of the college’s Vice Presidents mentioned the similarities between our program and a high school program at LaGuardia Community College in New York. Running over to our computers, we soon discovered that a high school was opened in the 1970s on the LaGuardia Community College campus, which was geared toward a population similar to Shearwater’s; it’s still running and thriving today. Dubbed a “middle-college” experience, the collaboration between LaGuardia and the high school gives students more choices, exposes them to college, and allows them to earn transferable college credits while still in high school.
We were thrilled. Not only had someone else already labored through much of the decision-making and thinking that loomed ahead, but we could use their information and this model to guide our own program development.
Through experiences like this, we at Shearwater have learned the power and value of asking for help. We know it is a simple concept, yet we know of some organizations that struggle with it. To use the old teacher adage: don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to.
Think back to your days in school. Your teacher has assigned a research paper. The topic: should your school require uniforms?
Just writing “yes, our school should have uniforms” will get you a failing grade. You have to hit the books. In the paper, you cite multiple studies you found on how wearing a uniform evoked a sense of pride in the students and made them better-behaved. You include a final paragraph advising your principal to poll students and teachers before enforcing uniforms at your school. Every school is different you tell her.
The paper was an exercise in persuasion.
When you open your own charter school, you are undergoing a similar process.
Say you decide that school on Saturdays is the key to success. In order to implement this policy, you need to present examples of successful Saturday programs. Perhaps you quote the research done by the highly credible Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), a charter school network that has implemented Saturday school and increased student achievement. If your board of directors is skeptical of Saturday school success in your own city, you can compare student performance at two local schools, one which has class on the weekends and the other that teaches just Monday-Friday.
While this may be a rudimentary example, it demonstrates the first phase of data-driven decision making at the school-wide level. More specifically known as evidence-based practice, this type of extensive research is fundamental to your school’s success.
It has many perks. For one, you can create a better model by implementing programs that have been proven to work already and disregarding those that went sour. Also, by implementing strategies that have proven successful, donors will be less dubious of your project and more like to support you financially. Parents and students are equally more likely to enroll in your school.
Data-driven decision making does not stop after the initial model and curriculum are created. Once a school opens it’s doors, we see phase two of data-driven decision making: using the school’s performance results to make daily decisions and modifications. All schools have unanticipated problems. But, a school committed to data-driven decision making will monitor student performance in every class and use the results to tweak teaching methods and class structures to best meet student needs and promote student learning.
If small changes are not enough and there seems to be some larger problem, you go back to phase one. This means another exercise in evidence-best practice. You go back to Google and the books – ask your question, search through journal articles and program practices in search for a viable alternative.
By using data-driven decision making, we see a model oriented towards students — always adjusting based on their needs.
This is an exercise in accountability.
By studying what is going on in the classroom, you can assign teachers where they are most effective, train them in skills where they are lacking, and recognize when they should be let go. With this system in place, we hope the days of poor teaching and poor leadership gone unnoticed are no more.
A final perk: if your school can prove a positive change in student achievement, another city may want to replicate your model. Just imagine, other school developers may start using your model as the crutch of their own research.
If you want to start a charter school in Missouri, you have to have a board of directors. Why? Because only nonprofits can open charter schools and all nonprofits must have a board.
While you’re legally bound to have a board, how the board organizes, governs, and interacts with the school’s staff is up to you.
In this post, we will discuss three of the most common models of governance seen in today’s charter schools. To wrap up, we will tell you which model we at Shearwater subscribe to and why.
Governance Models of Charter Schools
Model One: The School Board
The first model of governance is similar to what we see in our traditional public schools. Board members are voted in by school staff, local officials, and community members. A community-oriented model, this board is accountable to the general public. Meetings are open to anyone and provide time for public comments.
Model Two: The Nonprofit Board
The second model is structured like any other nonprofit entity. We see board members drawn from the local school system as well as a wide-range of professions. The founder or head of the charter school collaborates with the existing board to recruit and nominate new voting members. The board focuses on strategic planning and organizational viability.
Board members are also key players in fundraising and financial oversight. Members help to create the charter contract with the sponsoring agent and provide input and expertise in the school design. While the board hires and manages the head of the school, that individual is left to manage the school’s day-to-day affairs.
Model Three: The Corporate Advisory Group
The final model is akin to a corporate board model. The head of the school makes most decisions. The board serves as an advisory committee, giving guidance when needed. They make few decisions as a collective, but instead delegate responsibilities to various staff members and departments within the school. We often see this model in large charter school networks; the network has one central national office and assigns local advisory committees to each network school.
You can refer to Creating an Effective Charter School Governing Board to learn more.
Shearwater’s Model
Here at Shearwater, we have created a hybrid model, merging the community and accountability aspects of the traditional school board model with the diverse and shared-responsibility nature of a healthy nonprofit board.
Like any other school board, the public is welcome to attend our board meetings. On occasion, we will have community members or school staff present on specific topics of interest to Shearwater’s board members.
Like other nonprofit boards, our members bring an array of professional experience. The breadth of skill-sets on our board equips us to effectively navigate the charter school process, build strong internal controls, and develop ourselves as a strong nonprofit entity. Board members include lawyers, business leaders, accountants, nonprofit consultants, public relations experts, educators, and philanthropists. Many of them hail from St. Louis, our hometown. This means our board has a strong understanding of the community, its needs, and the local politics. Together, this group of individuals makes wise, deeply-considered choices.
When it came to modeling our board after the corporate model, we were wary of one person having most of the decision-making power. Here at Shearwater, we feel our model is strong and our decisions sound because many different minds have contributed and agreed. A corporate model can compromise this strong sense of accountability.
Keep in mind: how your board organizes, governs, and interacts with the school staff is not to be taken lightly. Really give it some thought. A healthy board of directors is not only fundamental to a charter school’s success, but a great board can make finding success easier and open all sorts of doors you never thought possible.
Like many of our Nation’s cities, Philadelphia has a dropout problem. In 2006, researchers reported that less than half of the city’s public school students graduate[1]. A call to action rang out across the Philadelphia community.
By October of that year, Project U-Turn was born.
Project U-Turn describes itself as “a citywide campaign to focus public attention on Philadelphia’s dropout crisis and to design strategies and leverage investments to resolve it[2].”
Thus far Project U-Turn has received over 42 million dollars in grant funding, opened two high schools designed for out-of-school youth, and has been instrumental in increasing the city’s graduation rate by 10 percent. Read more about their successes here
Perhaps what is most astounding about their work is their resolute adherence to engage everyone in addressing high school dropout. Phrases such as citywide campaign, schools can’t do it alone, and the well-being of our city are found repeatedly on their website.
What is not found is the name of the person who runs Project U-Turn. We can’t seem to find the person to send our “congratulations” or “thank you” card to. Instead, this collaborative sits in the hands of a local non-profit, Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN). And PYN is just the beginning of a vast network of supporters.
Let’s name a few: the Mayor, the public school district and their CEO, the federal government, select non-profits, faith-based organizations, and local colleges.
Here at Shearwater, we are big fans of Project U-Turn. We share their belief that community collaboration is crucial to confronting high school dropout.
In fact, our growth is a result of community involvement. Similar to Project U-Turn, we have solicited support from the Mayor’s Office, the public school district, the state government, and the local leadership community. We look to local nonprofits such as Youth in Need, United Way, and the Urban League, to make our program possible by aiding our students. Local universities have also jumped on board, offering space, researchers, and sponsorship.
We are proud to say that Shearwater is the community’s school. Let’s tip our hats to Project U-Turn for setting a good example.
[2] Project U-Turn: Paving Pathways to Educational Success. <http://www.projectuturn.net/about.html>.
Jobs for the Future and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University just released a new report on turning around high schools with low graduation rates. At a time when the federal government is offering billions of dollars toward school reform, this report give recommendations for how to best allocate the funds. Researchers highlight the importance of federal-state-local and community partnernships, noting that “schools can’t do it alone.”
There are charter schools that seem to have lost sight of a simple truth: “money makes the world goes round.”
In a recent Center for Education Reform report, researchers found that 4 out of 10 charters have closed due to financial problems. An additional 3 out of 10 were poorly managed and eventually shut down. The schools were spending money they didn’t have, misspending what they did have, and overestimating the funds they would receive[1].
Keep in mind: a well-run organization better educates kids. Academic gains are improbable when there is no money to support school operations. We must learn and apply pertinent business principles; a business focused on education is still a business. How many companies do you know that don’t have someone running the books and acting as a financial advisor? A charter school should be no exception.
Hiring a business manger whose only focus is school finance and operations is key.
We already know that funding for charter schools can be tough. State funding is never enough. School administrators often have to solicit federal moneys, apply for grants, and look to the good will of the wealthy. This can be a time-consuming and tiresome process.
A slashed budget is the beginning of a slippery slope. Teacher layoffs begin, the school’s building is compromised, and innovation is stifled. Suddenly a school that was well-designed and good-intentioned can become a failing school.
Case in point: a few years ago, a charter school in the Bronx was forced to close its doors after only two years of operation. It faced a myriad of issues, including financial and management problems. Its closing left a “messy wake of heartbreak, anger, and dislocation[2]” for everyone involved – school staff, community supporters, parents, and students. In Shearwater’s local community we have lost two Youth Build programs. Youth Build, a construction training and GED program for low-income out-of-school youth, ran out of money — “hope was building. Then the money dried up[3].”
Charter schools are a source of hope for our country’s youth. Let’s keep that hope alive but not allow the accounting to fall to the wayside. Our recommendation: hire a business manager now. An initial financial sacrifice will mean financial stability later.
[2] (April 3, 2006) In Death of Bronx Charter School, a Wider Problem. <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/03/ nyregion/03charters.html>.
[3] (June 12, 2008) Building Solid Futures Gets Tougher Without Funds. St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Here at Shearwater, our staff is human. When our charter high school opens in August of 2010, we expect to make mistakes. In the meantime, we will keep doing our homework.
Since inception, our goal has been to create a model that implements promising practices and is sculpted to fit our local community. This has meant research, research, and more research.
When figuring out what will work, cheating is encouraged. No need to test a pilot math program if another school found it to be a success. When nailing down our curriculum, who better to talk to than local experienced educators and community members? Studies show that longer school days improve achievement. Now, our day will run from 9-5.
At Shearwater, we believe the key to a successful model is engaging the experts and routinely asking ourselves, how can we get better?
Education Secretary Duncan is also doing his homework. Earlier this year, he went on a “listening” tour. Duncan visited schools across the nation, created online discussion boards, and took advice from the public. Most recently, he has invited experienced charter school leaders to help improve our country’s failing schools.
We want to share our ideas too. Feel free to provide feedback to our suggestions. For once, using someone else’s homework is not cheating. It is the key to our success and sustainability.
Over the next few weeks, we will highlight six of the most important elements we believe are critical to Shearwater High School’s success:
(1) Hiring a business manager who focuses on school finance and operations
(2) Building partnerships and allies across the community
(3) Cultivating a diverse, healthy, and engaged board of directors
(4) Committing to data-driven decision making
(5) Asking for help when needed
(6) Utilizing promising practices instead of recreating the wheel
Stay tuned!
Check out the latest article on Shearwater! Found in the Suburban Journal, a St. Louis Metropolitan newspaper, it highlights aspects of our model and the importance of reengaging youth who have left school.
