Resources

Columbia News 21 used many online resources to inform our reporting for The Charter Explosion project. Some of those links are listed below and should be useful for anyone who is looking into charter schools. Please feel free to suggest additional resources in the comments section.

Research:

Andrew Rotherham at Education Sector has research on charter schools’ efficacy and discusses what donor’s should look for in teachers and principals..

Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives is Tulane University’s “action-oriented think tank”, originally established to lead education reform in New Orleans.

Education Policy Research Unit at Arizona State University.
Erin Dillon at Education Sector talks about promoting charter school choice and development in communities in “Food for Thought”

Gary Miron at Western Michigan University has research on charter schools and school choice in general.

Jeffrey Henig at Columbia University Teachers College has a lot of research on charter school organizations and enrollment patterns .

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute is a Washington D.C.-based think tank that does research on K-12 educational issues including charter schools and Catholic school conversions.

Governmental Organizations:

U.S. Department of Education
New Jersey

New Orleans
Louisiana’s Recovery School District is a school district administered by the state’s education department. It is made up of schools identified as under-performing.

Louisiana Department of Education

Washington, D.C.

Washington D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education or O.S.S.E. collects data from the District’s charter and regular public schools.

The District of Columbia Public Charter Schools Board has the power to authorize charter schools.

The District of Columbia Public Schools system oversees all public schools in the districts that are not charters.

Teach for America is a non-profit organization that recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in under-served schools.

New Orleans
Louisiana Charter School Associationis an advocacy group that promotes the advancement of the charter school movement in Louisiana.

New Schools for New Orleans is an organization that aids the development of new charter schools in New Orleans by recruiting and training new school leaders who open the schools and by providing support to existing charter schools.

Teach Nola, an initiative of the New Teacher Project, recruits recent college graduates, working professionals and certified teachers to teach in New Orleans schools.

New Orleans Parent Organizing Network is an advocacy group for parents that created “The Parents Guide,” a comprehensive guide to New Orleans public schools published several times each year.

Orleans Public Education Network is a collaborative of individuals and organizations invested in New Orleans public schools. The group focuses on defining one vision for the future of the city’s public schools.

Educate Now is a non-profit organization dedicated to effective and sustainable reform of New Orleans public schools founded by Leslie Jacobs, a native of New Orleans who served as an elected member of the New Orleans School Board, followed by a twelve year government appointed position on the state school board: the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).

Twin Cities

MN2020 recently published a report, taking a closer look at the finances of charter schools.

Washington, D.C.
Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) is the lead advocacy group for all charter schools in D.C.

Media:

Education Week is a national education magazine with frequent coverage of charter schools. (A subscription is required for viewing).

Gotham Schools is a New York city education website with thorough coverage on New York City charter schools.

Jay Mathews, a Washington Post education reporter and author of the book Work Hard, Be Nice, about the rise of the KIPP charter schools, has covered charter schools for many years.

Rethinking Schools has been covering the growth of charter schools for years and published the book “Keeping the Promise? The Debate Over Charter Schools” in 2008.

The Times Picayune is the local, daily newspaper of New Orleans. Articles from the paper appear on NOLA.com. blog and articles. Their education reporters include Brian Thevenot, Darran Simon and Columbia Journalism School alum, Sarah Carr

The Washington Post has extensive coverage of the city’s charter schools.

Reporting Guidelines:

Hechinger Institute Guidelines for journalists who cover education.