CALENDAR

New Service Delivery and Fee Structure

For the 2011-2012 school year, CSP has revised how services will be made available to Partner Schools and is offering a new, more flexible fee structure. 

Schools that are invited to join CSP will pay a “basic partnership fee” of $1,500 to receive access to a group of Core Programs provided to all Partner Schools.  Partner Schools also will have the option to choose from a set of Select Programs for an additional fee that will vary based on the specific program requested and, in some cases, the size of the school.  CSP will work with each Partner School to help determine which programs can best meet its individual improvement goals and needs. 

CSP PARTNER SCHOOLS: Core Programs

Core Programs provided to all CSP Partner Schools will include:

CSP Staff Expertise: CSP’s staff have in-depth experience with charter schools and nonprofit organizations and will serve as an information resource for Partner Schools when their leaders or board members have questions on a broad range of policy or practice issues.  Our team’s areas of expertise include academic leadership and programming, data and assessment, board governance, facilities, charter school laws and regulations, school start-up and expansion, and relations with state agencies, the legislature, and media.

“Partner Tuesdays” Speaker/Issue Forum: CSP will continue to offer a regular series of events with national and regional education experts, as well as state and local officials, to address policy and practice topics of immediate interest.  These sessions are designed exclusively for Partner Schools and will put their leaders, teachers, and board members in conversation with experienced and knowledgeable people at the vanguard of education reform and charter school best practices.  CLICK HERE for more information about our past events.

Advocacy: In our first two years of operation, CSP has emerged as a strong advocate for high expectations and performance in Minnesota charter schools and will further expand its work in this area for 2011-2012.

• Coalition Building/Grassroots: CSP will continue to help build and grow a new coalition of education reform partners, such as MinnCan, Teach for America – Twin Cities, and others focused on improving the quality of charter schools and closing achievement gaps in Minnesota. 
  

• Media: CSP will continue to expand its presence in the media by highlighting successful Partner Schools, establishing itself with the media as the “go to” expert on charter school excellence, and placing commentaries on key issues in newspapers and web-based media.  CLICK HERE to see past op-eds or articles.
  

• Lobbying:  CSP will continue facilitating opportunities for its Partner Schools to testify before committees and be heard by legislators while strategically targeting its advocacy work at the State Capitol with a dual focus:
• Systemic K-12 Reform:  As with the groundbreaking “alternative teacher certification” legislation that was enacted in early 2011, CSP aims to shape the discussion at the state Capitol on other systematic reform initiatives, including teacher assessments, collaboration between charters and districts, and “parent choice” that empower families to transform low-performing schools.
• High-Quality Chartering:  Concurrently, CSP will continue to be a voice for quality charter schools with an emphasis on ensuring that the nation’s #1 ranked charter law remains strong -- with sufficient flexibility, accountability, and funding to grow the number of high-performing schools in Minnesota.

• Blog: CSP’s blog has become one of the fastest growing and most frequently visited education blogs in Minnesota with its focus on the latest national, state and local efforts to increase quality and achievement in our state’s charter schools. CLICK HERE to visit the CSP Blog.
  

• Policy Briefs/Research: Periodic CSP Policy Briefs will provide guidance on key topics, such as school growth and replication.   In addition, practical research and data analysis will highlight charter schools demonstrating strong academic performance and/or growth and help identify common practices among these schools. CLICK HERE to see CSP's analysis of 2010 MCA data for charter schools.

• Featured Profile on Website: CSP will develop a written profile of each of its Partner Schools that will be featured on CSP’s website to showcase the school’s special characteristics, academic success, and ongoing progress.

CSP PARTNER SCHOOLS: Select Programs

Because of our strategic partnerships with TIES, Cambridge Education, Slipka-Deakman Associates and The High Bar, CSP is able to deliver the following programs at a reduced rate for Partner Schools.  In addition to this discounted pricing, CSP staff provide supplemental support to schools to assist in the successful implementation of each program and a more seamless and integrated usage of multiple programs.  Each of the following Select Programs is priced separately.

Data Driven Decision-Making

TRIO: In collaboration with the Minnesota-based education technology cooperative, TIES, CSP has developed TRIO -- ‘Turning Results into Outcomes’ -- a proprietary data-management software tool designed to aid teachers and school leaders as they make sense of complex data and build a culture of data driven decision-making. The cost of TRIO’s implementation includes a licensing fee, ongoing technical support, and assessment coaching to its Partner Schools.

School Leadership

Cambridge Education School Review: In partnership with the international Cambridge Education consultancy, CSP offers high quality, customized school assessment and planning services designed to engage school leaders and teachers in continually improving the quality of their school’s education delivery and outcomes.  An in-depth School Quality Review (SQR) as well as a Progress Review and Effective Classroom Observation training (for schools that already received a SQR) are among the available services. 

 Quality Teaching

Classroom Observation and Teacher Evaluation: Charter School Partners understands that effective teaching and instructional planning form the foundation of every school’s success. We counsel our schools to recruit new teachers from high-quality preparation programs, including Teach for America, and experienced teachers from best-practice schools around the state and the country.  Once these teachers are on staff,  high-quality schools commit to establishing a system of regular, developmental teacher evaluations that leverage student progress, data, and classroom observations to provide ongoing and practical feedback to teachers in the pursuit of student achievement.  CSP staff will provide guidance to our Partner Schools that wish to adopt teacher observation criteria and evaluation rubrics already being used successfully by high-performing charter schools, helping to customize them to each school’s existing needs for promoting quality teaching.  In addition to the valuable feedback on classroom observation practices available to Partner Schools through Cambridge Education, CSP is partnering with Slipka-Deakman Associates to provide a web-based, easy-to-use tool for automating teacher evaluations.

Effective Board Governance

Tools for Board Development:  Through an exclusive partnership with The High Bar, founded by a nationally-recognized expert in charter school governance, CSP is offering new tools to advance board development in Partner Schools.  BoardOnTrack and BoardSavvy will help leverage the efforts of board members into real results for academic excellence and organizational sustainability.  All tools and strategies have been road-tested with over 200 charter school boards nationwide, in 20 different states.  The High Bar’s services will provide:

• In-depth analysis of your board’s needs and goals
• Tools to manage your board’s work and documents
• The training and materials your board needs most, when you need them
• Governance support and training for your school’s leader

In addition, CSP staff are available to help board members build on the required training they have received under Minnesota law by assisting with board development planning or facilitating board retreats.  CSP staff have served on several charter school boards (in both the startup and operational phases) and include an MDE-approved trainer on board governance.