Charter districts: when an entire district goes charter, do benefits follow? A study casts doubts

School Administrator, June, 2002 by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood

To improve daily attendance at the high school, a policy establishing a fixed number of acceptable absences was implemented. Students with more than five absences would not receive credit for the course.

The elementary school focused on the teaching of reading, language arts and mathematics. Extensive pre- and post-testing was conducted to determine each student's learning needs. Based on test results, students rotated through one of 76 small instructional groups. Students remained in a group until they mastered the objectives and could successfully proceed to another level.

The other two schools requested exemptions from state-mandated testing. They chose to use other assessment tools that provided note relevant information about student achievement and instructional needs.

Was our school board apprehensive? Most definitely! No other school district in Georgia had attempted to seek charter status for all schools in the district. Did board members say anything to sway our plan? If so, it was probably something on the order of "Don't give away the farm!"

At the same time, the board recognized that the main ingredient in the charter process was trust-the board had to trust the schools and the schools had to trust the board. No matter how difficult, the board had to maintain a hands-off policy, supporting the efforts of each school.

School teams maintained open communication with the superintendent and the board, often soliciting their advice on issues traditionally controlled by school boards. The board and superintendent became in-house consultants on issues pertaining to budget development, building maintenance and system operations.

In the end, each school had to defend its charter proposal at a public board meeting. Prior to voting on each chatter application, board members wanted to hear the rationale. At times, they did not agree to all aspects of the proposals while at other times our schools did not relent to the board's objections.

Perhaps the school board's biggest concern centered on the high school's plan to implement the 4 x 4 block. While not considered cutting-edge practice today, in the mid-'90s the prospect of high school students only taking four classes a semester represented a major shift in educational practice-one that might have a negative impact on students. After some give and take, each school gained its independence.

Major Strides

Becoming a charter district proved beneficial. While not all of our charter goals were reached during the five years of charter status, the overall effect was positive. A school climate inventory conducted by the State University of West Georgia found our faculty/staff morale to be the highest statewide.

Responding to new benchmarks for achievement, teachers across the system refocused instruction to meet the individual needs of each child and more consistently implemented research-based instructional strategies.

Our shared governance structure provided parents and community stakeholders a place at the table with a voice that previously was not heard. As parents took a greater responsibility in the education of their children, fewer students failed. Standardized test scores had mixed results. Some schools surpassed their goals while others did not. Student absenteeism, especially at the high school, was greatly reduced. Our system's daily attendance ranged from 94 percent to 95 percent each year.