National Resource Center Publications
Welcome to the National Resource Center's Publications page. Below, you will find various resources that can help support charter school finance and governance.
State Policy Guides are intended to help state policymakers understand the charter school finance and governance legislative and policy landscape across the country, the range of approaches available to states, and the opportunities and constraints they present to strengthening charter school finance and governance.
Increasing Charter School Accountability Through Interventions and Closures
This guide examines the laws, policies, and programs that states use to establish consequences for financial mismanagement in charter schools.
Partnerships Between Charter Schools and Other Organizations
As part of our series of state policy guides on charter school finance and governance topics, this guide focuses on partnerships and examines common policy options states are using to facilitate and restrict partnerships between charter schools and community, faith-based, and for-profit organizations.
Involving Teachers in Charter School Governance
As part of our series of state policy guides on charter school finance and governance, this report focuses on involving teachers in charter school governance. The guide outlines the pros and cons of different policy options with illustrative examples from existing state law and practice. It raises issues that state policymakers may want to consider related to teacher involvement in charter school governance and aims to help them identify approaches that best meet the needs of charter schools in their state.
Creating and Sustaining High-Quality Charter School Governing Boards
As part of our series of state policy guides on charter school finance and governance, this guide focuses on creating and sustaining high-quality charter school governing boards. The guide is intended to help state policymakers understand the range of approaches available, and the challenges and opportunities these approaches pose for strengthening charter school governing boards.
Mapping the Landscape of Charter Management Organizations: Issues to Consider in Supporting Replication
This Issue Brief provides a snapshot of CMOs currently operating, drawn from one of the first comprehensive studies of this new charter model. The brief considers the growing popularity of CMOs in the current charter school environment and reviews the research available on CMOs. The brief reports findings from a recent national study conducted by the National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance (NRC). It discusses trends in CMO growth, including length of operation, origin, geographic scope, grades served, and number of schools in the network. The brief concludes with recommendations for state policymakers, authorizers, and CMOs as they move forward in supporting CMO replication.
Maximizing Effectiveness: Focusing the Microscope on Charter School Governing Boards
Effective governing boards are crucial to the quality and sustainability of charter schools. However, board members generally are left to wade through piles of studies, which sometimes offer mixed messages, and to devise their own methods for making charter schools work. This Issue Brief synthesizes the advice of research and key leaders in the charter community as well as drawing from the experiences of nonprofit boards and boards of independent schools. The Brief also details state law requirements related to charter school board governance. The topics examined in this Issue Brief include stages of board development, board size, board composition and areas of member expertise, board membership, board member orientation and training, and indicators of effective board operations. Within each of these topics, we offer recommendations to guide charter school governing boards in decision-making. Finally, we identify gaps in knowledge about charter school governing boards and hi ghlight ideas for future research so that we will be better able to link board operations to charter school effectiveness.
Preparing to Take Advantage of New Programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The economic downturn is expected to have significant implications for charter schools, possibly forcing charter school leaders to serve smaller student populations or reduce school expansion plans. This funding note examines key funding sources within the recent stimulus bill that are most aligned to the services and goals of charter schools and identifies strategies charter schools can use to increase their chances of accessing funding.
Finding Federal Funding for Charter Schools: A User's Guide for the National Resource Governance Federal Funding Catalog
The user's guide is a companion to the Federal Funding Catalog of the National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance (NRC). The online, searchable Catalog includes more than 100 federal resources that can support charter school operations. This guide helps users make effective use of the funding catalog by providing:
1)a summary of the types of federal funding;
2)strategies for maximizing federal resources for charter schools;
3)a description of the framework used to organize the federal programs included in the catalog; and
4)an overview of the online, searchable database.
The NRC created this series of technical assistance tools to support successful and sustainble charter schools through the dissemination of effective finance and governance practices. The tools provide in-depth guidance and practical advice on salient issues that charter school leaders face, and help to build the knowledge and strengthen the capacity of charter leaders to successfully manage their schools.
Assessing Fiscal Health: A Financial Benchmarking Tool for Charter Schools
This Fiscal Health Assessment Toolkit is designed as a resource for charter school leaders to build fiscally sound schools and establish financial systems that can sustain their programs and services for years to come.
A Cost Estimation Tool for Charter Schools
The Cost Estimation Tool helps start-up charter school operators identify and estimate the range of cost and timing of expenditures they will be obligated to cover during start-up and the early years of operation. The tool provides several worksheets to help charter school operators identify basic cost assumptions (e.g., student enrollment and facilities needs) and use those assumptions to estimate their operating costs. Download the cost estimation template in Excel.
A Revenue Planning Tool for Charter School Operators
In a difficult economy, charter school leaders need to think strategically about building a sound and reliable base of revenue to support their work. The Revenue Planning Tool helps charter school leaders identify and evaluate prospective funding sources that are applicable to their unique needs and goals. Several worksheets walk charter school leaders through the process of collecting and evaluating information about funding sources so they can make informed decisions about which ones will help them establish a strong revenue base for their schools.
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