STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION – TOPIC SUMMARY
Topic: Oregon Charter School Program Promising Practices
Date: December 1-2, 2011
Staff/Office: Susan Inman/Office of Educational Improvement and Innovation
Action Requested:
Information only
Policy Adoption
Policy Adoption/Consent Calendar
ISSUE BEFORE THE BOARD: Charter school promising practices in Oregon
BACKGROUND:
There are currently 115 charter schools in Oregon serving over 20,000 students. Each school is developed
with community support to serve students through innovative education models. Consistent with the legislative
intent of Oregon Revised Statute, Chapter 338.015, many of Oregon’s charter schools serve as “models and
catalysts for the improvement of other public schools and the public school system.” Since each charter school
is formed with a unique mission and some are implementing innovative approaches to the school, success is
often referred to as “promising practices.” These practices are often only producing their first, second, or third
year results.
The Oregon Department of Education received Charter School Incentive grants from the US Department of
Education from 1999 to 2011. Each of these grants allowed for up to 10 percent of the funds to support the
dissemination of information about successful practices in charter schools. The recent federal language
regarding the use of funds for dissemination activities involves high quality charter schools assisting other
schools in adapting the charter school’s program or to disseminate information about the charter school.
The Oregon Charter School Program has awarded a number of Charter School Dissemination Grants to:
 Assist other individuals with the planning and start-up of one or more new public schools, including
charter schools, that are independent of the assisting charter school and the assisting charter school’s
developers and that agree to be held to at least as high a level of accountability as the assisting charter
school;
 Develop partnerships with other public schools, including charter schools, designed to improve student
academic achievement in each of the schools participating in the partnership;
 Develop curriculum materials, assessments, and other materials that promote increased student
achievement and are based on successful practices within the assisting charter school; and
 Conduct evaluations and develop materials that document the successful practices of the assisting
charter school and that are designed to improve student achievement.
Recent Dissemination subgrantees include:
 Alliance Charter Academy, Oregon City School District
 Arthur Academy—David Douglas, David Douglas School District
 Arthur Academy—Reynolds, Reynolds School District
 Cascade Heights Public Charter School, North Clackamas School District
 The Emerson School, Portland Public Schools
 Four Rivers Community School, Ontario School District
 Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter High School (LEP), Portland Public Schools
 SEI Academy, Portland Public Schools
 Three Rivers Charter School, West Linn-Wilsonville School District
POLICY QUESTIONS: None
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: None
Attachment – Recent Oregon Charter School Program Dissemination Subgrant Summaries
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Recent Oregon Charter School Program
Dissemination Subgrant Summaries
Alliance Charter Academy, Oregon City School District
This project will facilitate a 2012 state charter school conference in partnership
with ODE. The conference will provide vital professional development on Credit
by Proficiency. The project will develop Credit for Proficiency modules for online
dissemination to new and existing charter schools, mainstream public schools,
districts and ESDs. This information will be incorporated into the 2012
conference. ACA staff will develop, gather, and make available online resources
supporting implementation of these Credit for Proficiency modules. The goal will
be to increase the number of standards-based credits awarded to high school
students in participating schools; success will be indicated by an increase in AYP
graduation rates. Additionally, the project will develop modules to assist
programs in implementing aspects of ACA’s unique Personalized Learning
education and business model for new and existing charter schools, mainstream
public schools, districts, and ESDs. Modules will be disseminated online by June
2012 and success will be measured by follow-up surveys.
Arthur Academy—David Douglas, David Douglas School District
The focus of this project was to implement professional development for charter
and traditional school education by 1) developing materials, using a variety of
media to demonstrate Arthur Academy’s research-based practices that improve
reading and writing achievement; 2) conducting introductory sessions and indepth two day workshops to teach strategies that have proven effective in
teaching early reading and writing; 3) establishing connections with a wider
audience and disseminate information about Arthur Academy’s instructional
strategies through an enhanced website; and 4) disseminating information at
local, regional, state and national forums on Arthur Academy’s research-based
strategies.
Arthur Academy—Reynolds, Reynolds School District
The focus of this project is to implement refined and improved professional
development for charter and traditional school education initially created by the
previous successful Arthur Academy—David Douglas Dissemination Grant. The
project is aimed at teaching research-based effective instructional strategies to
charter school and traditional public school pre-kindergarten to grade 3 teachers
to improve reading achievement of high-needs students.
Cascade Heights Public Charter School, North Clackamas School District
This project is sharing their systematic approach to develop a Continuous
Improvement Portfolio, delineated in these areas of focus: 1) Information and
Analysis; 2) Student Achievement; 3) Quality Planning; 4) Professional
Development; 5) Leadership; 6) Partnership Development; 7) Continuous
Improvement; and 8) Evaluation. The actual “product” produced was a unique
Oregon Department of Education – Charter School Program 2011
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Recent Oregon Charter School Program
Dissemination Subgrant Summaries
portfolio of information that can be used for improvement planning, renewal of a
charter, grant writing and recruiting students. The results were twofold. First,
schools learned to reference their progress, and second, schools generated
continuous diagnostic data on both learning and implementation processes they
are using in order to inform and refine improvement strategies.
The Emerson School, Portland Public Schools
This project is to provide tools, training and development in three specific areas
of The Emerson School’s program that can easily be implemented in more
traditional classroom settings without requiring major expense or large-scale
changes in the curriculum. The areas of focus are teacher-led physical
education (“Morning Movement”), student-led conferences, and student portfolios
(authentic assessment). Each area was developed into a day-long workshop
with follow-up evaluation of educators implementing the practices.
Four Rivers Community School, Ontario School District
The project addresses three identified needs. The objective is to document and
analyze the process of creating a successful charter school and the effectiveness
of on-site instructional coaching for all teachers based on teacher identified
requests. The second is to provide charter school directors with a useful
adaptable template and a director resource guide. This information is crucial for
successful leadership and teacher retention. The director-friendly resource guide
along with templates are divided into sections that include: 1) Professional
Development; 2) Teacher Recruitment and Retention; 3) Establishing
Partnerships; 4) Staff Evaluations and Observations; 5) Salaries, Benefits and
Contracts; 6) Personnel Issues; 7) Teacher Licensing and Highly Qualified
Education Requirements; 8) Instructional Coaching; and 9) Data Analysis. The
beneficiaries of this project are primarily new directors of charter schools,
established directors with changing staff and schools that are ready to refine their
practice.
Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter High School (LEP), Portland
Public Schools
This project has two overall objectives: 1) assist charter schools in enrolling and
successfully educating more diverse student populations, specifically focusing on
at-risk, underachieving youth and underserved minority populations and 2) assist
the authorizing district to develop an internship program for at-risk youth. These
objectives are being accomplished through two main methods: 1) In-depth school
coaching, both at the LEP facility and at partnered schools’ sites and 2)
producing and disseminating packets of their curriculum that are engaging,
relevant, and culturally sensitive to motivate diverse population and at-risk youth
toward college and career success. The curriculum materials were developed
and presented at conferences and published to their website in four quarterly
increments.
Oregon Department of Education – Charter School Program 2011
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Recent Oregon Charter School Program
Dissemination Subgrant Summaries
SEI Academy, Portland Public Schools
SEI Academy operates within Self Enhancement, Inc. a nationally recognized
youth development organization. They are disseminating the SEI Model via
workshops and materials to Portland Public Schools, in the Jefferson High
School Cluster. The SEI Model creates a positive school environment that
supports improved behavior, attendance and academics. All schools
participating in the project were identified because they demonstrated a need for
improved student performance, including low test scores (via the Oregon
Statewide Assessment) and low graduation rates. The focus of the six full-day
workshops is professional development for instructors and school administration.
Workshops and materials include instruction on the awareness of risk factors in
youth and generate an improved understanding of methods used to mitigate the
effect of those risk factors. Workshop topics included: 1) Risk and Resilience; 2)
The Relationship Model; 3) The Culture of Success; 4) Incentive Systems; 5)
Rituals and Routines; and 6) Success Criteria for Staff.
Three Rivers Charter School, West Linn-Wilsonville School District
Three Rivers Charter School provides materials and concrete assistance to
charter schools as they move from the start-up phase to the maintenance phase
into the sustainability phase. They have been in operation since September 1,
2001 and have experience in the process and practices of continued growth and
sustainability. They have developed materials based on their experience, hosted
a conference to share the materials and initiated conversations and networks
between charter schools. They also are publishing newsletters electronically to
all charter schools. Documents will be available for public use through the state
and websites to be developed.
Oregon Department of Education – Charter School Program 2011
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