Improving Charter School Leadership. NGA Center for Best Practices Issue Brief

National Governors Association. 444 North Capitol Street, Washington, DC 20001-1512. Tel: 202-624-5300; Fax: 202-624-5313; Web site: http://www.nga.org

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Charter Schools; Performance Contracts; Elementary Secondary Education; Academic Achievement; Leadership Training; Teachers; Private Financial Support; Instructional Leadership; Public Education; Educational Objectives; Low Income Groups; Minority Groups; Institutional Mission; Educational Finance; Teacher Recruitment; Faculty Development; Boards of Education; Teacher Effectiveness

After the quality of a school's teachers, the quality of a school's leaders is the most influential school-based factor affecting student learning, and research indicates that leadership impacts student achievement the most in academic settings serving students who traditionally have not done well in school. In an effort to provide high-quality K-12 education options, particularly for the many students across the country who attend low-performing schools, governors and other state policymakers are looking to alternative approaches, such as charter schools, to maximize investments in public education. Forty states and the District of Columbia have laws that allow for fiscally independent, tuition-free charter schools that operate under a performance contract. As the number of students attending these schools continues to rise, state leaders have a growing interest in ensuring that this education sector is well-equipped to meet the goals of improving student achievement, especially for low-income and minority families who have been underserved by the traditional education system. Without strong leaders, charter schools will not be well-positioned to meet their promise of raising student achievement. Strong charter school leaders are necessary to establish and achieve a clear school mission; to recruit, develop, and retain effective educators; and to provide teachers the leadership support they need to deliver high-quality instruction. Governors and policymakers interested in expanding and strengthening their respective charter school options will need to consider what policy levers to use to increase the supply and quality of charter school leaders. Six strategies are discussed: (1) Support new and existing university-based charter school leadership training programs and partnerships and nontraditional providers; (2) Help secure funding for charter leadership programs by soliciting private support or using federal funding; (3) Enhance charter school directors' ability to hire qualified teachers by allowing charter schools or programs to run their own teacher training programs; (4) Increase directors' ability to attract and retain effective staff by offering state benefits for charter school teachers; (5) Provide ongoing and relevant professional development for school directors across the district and charter school sectors; and (6) Encourage and support charter board member training. (Contains 41 endnotes.)

ERIC

2009

ED504086