New York City Charter Schools

1. New York City Charter Schools November 8, 2006 Dr. Arthur Sadoff

2. Purpose and Promise of Charter Schools • Every child deserves a quality education • Every child has the potential to succeed in school and life • Charter Schools are a public school alternative with the promise of great education • Based on autonomy and accountability, public charter schools drive high student expectations and academic achievement in a caring culture of commitment

3. Our Mission The mission of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence is to stimulate the supply of high quality charter schools and support ongoing student excellence in all NYC charter schools, impacting the effectiveness of public education. As an independent nonprofit, the Charter Center is an advocate, bridge and catalyst for the achievement of academic and operational success and sustainability of all NYC charter schools for each young person.

4. What are Charter Schools? • Publicly funded, independent public schools that operate according to the terms of a five-year performance contract or “charter”. • Autonomy for Accountability • Must meet Regents requirements and state laws for health, safety, civil rights and student assessment. • Charter Schools are PUBLIC schools and are open to all NYC students regardless of income or ability.

5. 100% of Charter Schools serve low-income communities 15 Bronx 18 Brooklyn 4 Queens 21 Manhattan 0 Staten Island

6. Charter School Growth 58 47 32 23 17 15 10 1

7. What it takes to achieve Charter School excellence and long-term success: • Mission & vision with academic achievement and measurablegoals. • Parents as partners involved in academic results for their kids. • Clear accountability. • Continuous quality improvement. • Community engagement.

8. Who can open a charter school? • Educators • Parents • Community leaders • Not-for profit organizations Because they are held to very high standards and are responsible for educating public school students, charter schools are approved only after a rigorous review process. Once schools open, they are governed by a not-for-profit board.

9. CMOs, EMOs and CGOs

10. Who are the Authorizers? The Charter Schools Act created three different routes for charter school approval in New York State, and thus there are three different charter school application forms and processes. (1) directly to the New York State Board of Regents through the State Education Department (2) to the Board of Trustees of State University of New York through its Charter Schools Institute (3) through local boards of education, which in New York City is the Chancellor’s Office

11. Our Support Commitment Resources: The Charter Center provides technical assistance, training and support for charter schools as well as Guidebooks via our Web site www.nycchartercenter.org Grants: The Charter Center provides and facilitates grants to help charter schools get started, operate successfully and achieve academic excellence. Best Practices: The Charter Center identifies and promotes best practices and models of excellence to charter schools.

12. Our Commitment to School Quality

13. Brief History of Special Education in New York City • Types of programs • Movement toward inclusion

14. Charter Schools and Special Education • Unique Challenges • NY Center for Autism Charter School • Opportunity Charter School

15. Unique Challenges • Working with the Regional CSE • Obtaining services from the Department of Education • Encouraging Charter Schools to develop appropriate programs

16. NYC Center for Autism Charter School • Only for students with Autism • Selected through a lottery • Intensive ABA program

17. Opportunity Charter School • 50% of their students have IEP’s • Special needs students are fully included • Differentiated instruction for all students • Intensive staff development- “Schools Attuned”

18. Initiatives from the Center • Special Education Manual Development* • Training for the Special Education Teachers • Developed an on-line guidebook with a special education section* • Offered a “Best Practices” Shared Campus grant • Special Education Best Practice Forums

19. Training for the Special Education teachers • Eight sessions that are tied into the process and procedural manual developed by Interactive Therapy Group and the Center • Networking among special educators: • They established a “yahoo” network to share ideas and to support one another • Staff development other than manual training • two part training module

20. Offered a “Best Practices” Shared Campus grant • Bronx Charter School for the Arts

21. Special Education Best Practice Forums • Bringing schools together to share best practices • Having agencies discuss ways that they can work with charter schools • “Matching grants” were offered to schools that elected to work with agencies that were identified by the Center • Schools and agencies that worked together were invited to share their experiences with other schools

22. Future Endeavors • Social worker/ guidance counselor supervision sessions provided by an outside vendor • Medicaid Initiative • Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to schools

23. Social worker/ guidance counselor supervision sessions provided by an outside vendor • Sharing best practices • Networking for support • Professional development

24. Medicaid Initiative • Bringing Medicaid reimbursement directly into Charter Schools in NYC • Given the large number of students who participate in free lunch programs, it appears that Medicaid can be a lucrative revenue source to offset the cost of providing best practices to students with special needs • Conducting feasibility study supported by the Center

25. Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to schools • Center supported a study in one NYC borough which suggested a strong need for development of an ESA • Surveys and interviews were conducted at each Charter School and the CSE • Results support the hypothesis that a new structure should be put into place to allow for a better service delivery model within charter schools

26. Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to schools • BOCES model in NYS • To encourage resource pooling • School districts may choose, but are not required to join • Financially supported by member school districts

27. Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to Schools • Charter Schools and ESA Models • Way to better understand charter laws • Mutual interest in developing a collaborative and uniform relationship with district special education staff in the best interest of special education students • Perceptionthat sharing special education services and related service providers create and economy of scale • Lack of knowledge regarding standards of practice for high quality services • Need for access to expertise in both compliance and academic areas of special education • Need for special educators to have access to a supporting infrastructure

28. Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to schools • Examples of types of types of ESA models • CSE designed to only serve charter schools in a particular borough • Charter school cooperative established by the voluntary participation of member schools • BOCES structure comprised of voluntarily participating charter schools and governed by a Board of Directors, with an Executive Director, and staffed with District Lea representatives and CSE members.

29. Developing an Education Services Agency to provide Special Education Support to schools • Examples of types of types of ESA models • BOCES structure comprised of voluntarily participating charter schools and public schools and governed by a Board of Directors, with an Executive Director, and staffed with District LEA representatives and CSE members.