How Good Charters Are Meeting Challenges of NCLB
(…ideas that should be built into state legislation to improve charters)

Ronald E. Johnson, Ph.D

One thing the U.S. Dept of Ed. and state legislatures should not do is make a template for all charters to emulate. That would negate the strength of the charter school movement, which is the opportunity to provide creative choices to address unique circumstances in communities. Charters (and all public schools) should be free to design and implement educational packages fit for local needs. That fact does not obviate the wisdom of shopping around to “borrow” systems, programs and curriculum practiced in effective charter schools. A seven-state research trip through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas revealed some inefficient and top notch practices worthy of serious consideration by all state legislatures attempting to assure charter school compliance with NCLB. The research involved 75 entrepreneurs, superintendents, principals, board members and teachers representing 61 regular and charter schools, plus the director of a home school support group. Interviews were face-to-face, ranged from twenty minutes to two hours and included on-site visits at 20 schools.

Flexible Scheduling And Student Attendance
Schools are more likely to be effective when attendance schedules accommodate contemporary domestic circumstances associated with dysfunctional families. Effective charter schools are encouraged by their state legislatures to offer various attendance schedules throughout the week. Students/parents select the daily/weekly schedule that best fits the home situation. Some state legislatures wisely allow charter schools to report students present (for state funding) as long as the schools document at least 20-25 hours of on-campus learning each week. Some students attend five hours per day Monday through Thursday, and attend on Friday or Saturday only if the minimum weekly attendance time is not satisfied in four days. Some schools allow high school students from low-income households to attend school seven hours per day for three days in order to accommodate employment demands. Other schools offer early-evening schedules for K-12 students whose single-parent mothers have to work at night. These practices enable charters to satisfy state accountability criteria for student attendance because schools can “work with” students who would otherwise be absent during the week. Moreover, such flexible scheduling options allow schools to maintain consistent funding based on documented daily student attendance.

Parental Involvement In The Induction Process
Schools which involve parents get better results. Effective charter schools implement a student induction system that requires participation by parents (or legal care-givers). The process starts with an initial interview during which the student applicant and parents tour the school and sit through an orientation (on CD or video) which defines attendance, attire, academics, acceptable attitudes, and appeal procedures. The administrator describes the benefits of the charter school and explains the student handbook. Parents and student applicants sign an intent-to-enroll form and receive an enrollment package which includes an orientation study guide which must be completed before the second interview. The completed study guide and enrollment forms are delivered to the school administrator at least a day prior to the second interview. During the second interview the administrator discusses specific school policies while watching parental and student responses to such issues as hair style, grooming, attendance, academics and scheduling. Effective administrators are alert to detect points of resistance and to discuss them openly, graciously and firmly so the parent and student can decide whether the school program is acceptable to the family as defined in the school handbook. The third interview requires the student to attend in full compliance with the school’s grooming and attire policies. During this interview, the administrator, parents and student discuss and agree upon an attendance schedule, academic prescription and other points of concern.

Attendance Enforcement And Encouragement
Effective charter schools mix incentives with tough love attendance enforcement. Students want to attend schools which offer danger-free halls, clean restrooms, pleasant atmosphere, and opportunity to obtain a quality education. State compulsory school attendance laws require principals to exercise reasonable effort to keep students in attendance. Good schools gain support from local law-enforcement and judicial agencies. When students and parents do not comply with attendance laws, effective schools resort to tough love, including home visits whenever students are truant, tickets to parents who allow truancy, and attendance schedules for make-up time. The effective schools compliment and reward students for good behavior and attendance. The really effective schools are fortunate to employ staff who visit homes and spend time with at-risk students after school hours. Wise legislatures and state agencies recognize the need for schools to withhold educational services from students who refuse to obey school policies, to hold parents accountable for supporting state and school attendance laws/policies and to allow schools to offer flexible attendance schedules to accommodate truant-prone students.

Individualized Learning To Make Up Gaps
The reality of contemporary culture pressures effective schools to offer academics in sometimes strange packages. The traditional lock-step classroom approach in which all students advance or fail as a group is unreasonable for many contemporary students, especially those who have a history of high achievement, underperformance or excessive absenteeism. Effective charter schools often “do not look like school.” Students may sit in cubicles positioned around the perimeter of a large room or at tables lined up down the center of the room. Some students sit at computer stations from one to five hours a day. The most effective charters offer accelerated individualized learning in which students are allowed/encouraged to complete courses as rapidly as desired or as slowly as needed. The really creative and effective charters meet students where they are at induction and take them to competency in core subjects by addressing academic deficiencies in reading and math skills first, then placing the students in content over which they will be tested for adequate yearly progress. Effective schools shop around for curriculum that meets students’ needs and fits the school’s philosophy; administrators are not bound to textbooks adopted by or recommended by state education agencies. Wise legislatures allow schools to assign transcript credit earned from textbooks which address students’ needs rather than satisfy agency personal preferences for specific publishers.

Financial Accountability
Fiscal management requires a combination of business sense and integrity. Effective charters are directed by persons of integrity and good business practices. Accountability is essential for anyone who operates with public money. Charters, however, are currently encumbered with unnecessary procedures that require expensive bookkeeping procedures. Legislatures would be wise to establish a simple accountability system verifiable annually with a CPA audit that documents student attendance and academic achievement. School administrators who insist on absolute honesty and integrity can meet budget demands and accountability standards. Inefficient schools are those which operate “off the seat of their pants” or “cook the books” to extract excessive amounts of public money for personal gain. Operation of a charter school is a viable and legitimate business; it is not, however, an open door to access excessive lifestyle.

Ronald E. Johnson, Ph.D. is superintendent of Paradigm Accelerated Charter School in Dublin, Texas. He has authored operations manuals and textbooks for accelerated learning, and conducted staff training seminars for more than 6000 schools world-wide. He is founder and president of Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum (www.pacworks.com).