• Project Tasks

Development and Research projects for projects initiation…

  • Charter Research
  • Standards Requirements
  • Public School Research
  • State of the System/Current Hard Costs
  • Private School Research
  • Notable Models
  • Home School Structure
  • Private School Affidavits
  • Curriculum & Standards
  • Enrollment Process
  • Codes of Conduct
  • Extended Care
  • Electives
  • Academic Integrity Programs
  • International Baccalaureate Prgms.
  • Professional Development
  • Other Credential Programs
  • Academic Enrichment Programs
  • Language/World Studies – Foreign Affairs Partnerships
  • Performing Arts: Music, Dance and Theatre
  • Visual Arts: traditional & digital
  • Environmental Responsibility
  • Community Participation
  • Physical Education
  • Finance
  • Project Budget
  • Development Grants/Grant Writing
  • Funding
  • Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation
  • First 5 California
  • Community Business Partnerships
  • Contribution Structure
  • Scholarships
  • Facilities & Location
  • Technology
  • Access to Nature
  • Playground
  • Culinary Programs
  • Marketing & PR
  • Traditional
  • Information Packets
  • Published References and Resources
  • Grassroots
  • Community Events/Outreach
  • New Media/Webmaster
  • Social Media
  • Consultants and Professional Advisors
  • Middleton Young
  • Brody & Associates

  • Resources

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Source:

What is a charter school?

A charter school is a public school that provides instruction in any combination of grades, kindergarten through grade twelve. Parents, teachers, or community members may initiate a charter petition, which is typically presented to and approved by a local school district governing board. The law also allows, under certain circumstances, for county boards of education and the State Board of Education to be charter authorizing entities.

Specific goals and operating procedures for a charter school are detailed in the agreement between the charter authorizing entity and the charter developer. A charter school is exempted from many of the statutes and regulations that apply to school districts. Students enroll in charter schools on a voluntary basis.

Can a charter school require each student to participate in state testing?

Charter school pupils are required to participate in the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program (STAR). Parents have the right to waive, under specified conditions, state testing requirements. A charter school cannot disregard or take away this parental right for any reason and cannot require participation in the STAR, or any test not required by the State as a condition of enrollment, even if it has embedded such a requirement into its charter. However, the CDE encourages charter schools to strongly endorse STAR participation, so that student performance may be measured over time to support the intent of the original Charter Schools Act of 1992.

What is the legislative intent for charter schools?

The California Legislature enacted the Charter Schools Act of 1992 to authorize the establishment of charter schools. The purposes of charter schools, as specified in EC Section 47601 (Outside Source), are to:

Improve pupil learning.

Increase learning opportunities for all pupils, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for pupils identified as academically low achieving.

Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods.

Create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site.

Provide parents and students with expanded educational opportunities within the public school system without the constraints of traditional rules and structure.

Provide schools a way to shift from a rule-based to a performance-based system of accountability.

Provide competition within the public school system to stimulate improvements in all public schools.

Who is eligible to submit a charter petition?

Anyone may develop, circulate, and submit a petition to establish a charter school. ECSection 47605(a) (Outside Source) requires charter developers to collect signatures to indicate support for the petition. For a new charter school that is not a conversion of an existing public school, charter developers must obtain the signatures of either 50 percent of the teachers meaningfully interested in teaching at the school, or 50 percent of the parents of pupils expected to enroll at the school. For a charter school that is a conversion of an existing public school, the charter developer must collect the signatures of 50 percent of the teachers at the school to be converted. The petition must contain a prominent statement that a signature means that the person signing is meaningfully interested in teaching in, or in having his or her child(ren) attend the school.

What are the required elements of a charter petition?

Each charter petition must contain reasonably comprehensive descriptions of each of 16 required elements. The 16 elements, as specified in ECSection 47605(b)(5)(A-P) (Outside Source), are:

A description of the educational program of the school. If the proposed charter school will serve high school pupils, a description of how the charter school will inform parents about the transferability of courses to other public high schools and the eligibility of courses to meet college entrance requirements must be included in the charter petition.

The measurable pupil outcomes identified for use by the school.

The method by which pupil progress in meeting those pupil outcomes is to be measured.

The schools governance structure, including parental involvement.

The qualifications to be met by individuals employed by the school.

Procedures to ensure health and safety of pupils and staff.

The means by which the school will achieve racial and ethnic balance among its pupils, reflective of the general population residing in the district.

Admission requirements, if applicable.

The manner in which annual financial audits will be conducted, and the manner in which audit exceptions and deficiencies will be resolved.

The procedures by which pupils may be suspended or expelled.

Provisions for employee coverage under the State Teachers Retirement System, the Public Employees Retirement System, or federal social security.

The public school alternatives for pupils residing within the district who choose not to attend charter schools.

A description of the rights of any employee of the school district upon leaving the employment of the school district to work in a charter school, and of any rights of return to the school district after employment at a charter school.

A dispute resolution process.

A declaration whether or not the charter school will be the exclusive public school employer of the charter school employees.

The procedures to be used if the charter school closes.

CALIFORNIA CHARTER SCHOOLS ORGANIZATION

myschool.org

  • Free Webinars on how to start a charter
  • Membership Fee for additional resources

BULLIS CHARTER SCHOOL – “whole child program”

Bullis Charter School is a small K-8 public school that emphasizes individualized learning, national best practices for academic excellence, hands-on projects, and an enriched curriculum during school and in optional after-school activities.

  • Every student has Focused Learning Goals (FLGs) based on his/her unique needs, with goals ranging from core academics to developing social and organizational skills.
  • Every student possesses individualized academic objectives exceeding state standards. The curriculum, teaching style, and textbooks are designed and chosen from the best practices in elementary education across the nation. We are proud that in the 2008-09 school year, Bullis Charter School achieved an API of 971. Since its inception, BCS has consistently been in the top 1% of elementary schools in the state of California.
  • Every student spends time analyzing, integrating, and applying concepts to real-life learning opportunities. Compared to most schools, schoolwork includes more writing and project-based assignments, and fewer fill-in-the-blanks worksheets.
  • Every student participates in science, drama, dance, vocal and instrumental music, art, and PE. In addition, every student participates in a variety of elective topics with a focus on educating the whole child.
  • BCS offers an integrated Foreign Language Program, the first of its kind in a Los Altos public school.
  • The BCS Middle School Program will begin with 7th grade enrolling for Fall 2010 and 8th grade beginning in Fall 2011.

MC REL

Implementing Standards

CALIFORNIA HOMESCHOOL NETWORK

What is homeschooling?

Homeschooling is an educational option in which the parents assume the responsibility for educating their children at home. It is about families loving and learning from one another.

What homeschooling options are available in California?

There are four options: establishing your own home as a private school, enrolling in a PSP (a private school that offers independent study), using a public school independent study program or charter school that caters to homeschoolers or, if you have a credential, using the tutorial option. For more information on the legalities of homeschooling in California refer to theLegal Optionspage.

Are there different approaches to homeschooling?

Absolutely! There is a whole continuum of homeschooling approaches from something that resembles the structured school classroom to supporting children in pursuing their own interests. It is most typical for parents to combine homeschooling approaches. They might use a textbook for math, a unit study approach combining history, language arts and the social sciences, and a very hands-on approach to science. In the homeschooling community we call that the eclectic approach.

What effect does homeschooling have on public schools? Are you abandoning public education?

Homeschooling creates a healthy competition between itself and public schools by giving parents another choice in educating their children. Monopolies, even in education, are bad for the consumer.

We have sufficient evidence of educational success in the homeschooling movement that we believe public schools are starting to pay attention. We invite them to look at the successful educational ideas within the homeschooling movement and implement their findings to improve the quality of education for all children.

THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE -

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

ASSOCIATION FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

The Association for Experiential Education (AEE) is a nonprofit, professional membership association dedicated to experiential education and the students, educators and practitioners who utilize its philosophy. We strive to:

  • Connect educators in practical ways so that they have access to the growing body of knowledge that fuels their growth and development
  • Publish and provide access to relevant research, publications and resources
  • Raise the quality and performance of experiential programs through our accreditation program
  • Increase recognition of experiential education worldwide

COMMUNITY

JIM DELUGIO –

Torrance Unified Meeting in May

SUMMARY OF MEETING WITH DISTRICT OFFICIALS

On behalf of Riviera Elementary families, three concerned Riviera School parents (Pam Milroy, Jim Delurgio, and Rob Stahl) met with leaders of TUSD (Dr. Mannon, Dr. Stabler, Dr. Kim) and Riviera's principal, Christie Forshey.

The intent of this meeting was to find out what the future plans for the school are, viewed through the prism of decreasing funding from the State of California. In order to keep you informed, here are the results of that meeting.

FUNDRAISING FOR RIVIERA SCHOOL

  • Current Board policy is that fundraising efforts to save teacher jobs, fix facilities, extracurricular/after-school programs can only be funded on a district-wide basis through the Torrance Education Foundation, and not on a school specific basis.
  • It will take the efforts of parents, constituents, and interested parties (teachers, administrators, TUSD employees) to get Board of Education members to change the current policy. The reasons to change the current policy are so that some programs, employees, and facilities may be supported by local funds and fund-raising efforts.

RIVIERA SPECIFIC PLANS/PROBLEMS

  • Plans are in the preliminary stages in response to larger class sizes. Changing learning environments by "clustering" techniques, using the "team teaching" model in all grades, and opening up the learning centers to more students who would benefit from those classrooms.
  • Any specific problem that a parent has with the school itself (i.e. - morning drop-off/ parking issues, facility issues, lunch/recess problems, etc.) must be addressed to Mrs. Forshey.
  • An effort has been initiated to formalize this process to make it efficient, effective, easily accessible, and transparent.

POPULATION GROWTH AT RIVIERA

  • A concern was brought up about Riviera's population growth over the past 5-10 years.
  • The administration admitted that this has been the case, and is a function of the open enrollment process and the ability of the district to accept "permitted" students from outside of Torrance's borders.
  • The administration also demonstrated that current population projections for the

future do not include any further significant growth at Riviera.

Does anyone know Lawrence Pereira?

Torrance Parents Organization

Working with school districts to preserve funding and programs.

Ed-Data -

Facts and Figures about statewide to local API, enrollment, technology, etc FACTS

California’s public education system is immense: more than six million students in about 9,900 schools, which are governed by almost 1,000 elected school boards and regulated by a complex Education Code. The schools are funded through a finance system largely controlled by the Legislature and governor.

Example Torrance Unified/Anza Elementary:

Anza Elementary School, 2008-09
Type of School / Elementary
Grade Levels1 / K-5
Year Round Calendar / No
Charter School / No
Total Enrollment / 600
Population Status / Mid-size City
API Base Scores
Anza Elementary School, 2008-09
2009 Base API / 895
2009 Statewide Rank / 9

The Academic Performance Index (API) reflects the academic performance and growth of schools and districts based on the test scores of students in grades 2 through 12. The "Base" API, built from the results of statewide testing from the previous spring, is the beginning point for measuring a district’s annual growth. Because the components of the API generally change from year to year, so does the calculation of the Base API.
The red arrow on the chart above indicates where this school ranks compared to other elementary schools. To calculate the rankings, the elementary schools are divided into 10 equal groups (deciles) according to their Base API scores. The number of the group is the school's statewide ranking: 1 is the lowest, 10 the highest. On this chart the bands are superimposed on the API scale of 200 to 1,000 to show the range of scores in each group. The lowest--and highest--ranking schools have wider ranges of API scores than the groups in the middle.

Academic Performance Index (API) - 2009 Base
Anza Elementary
(CDS code 19-65060-6022982)
/
Elementary
Schools /

/
/

Academic Performance Index (API) Decile Ranks, 2009 API

Base Information
2009 Base API / 895 / The API is on a scale of 200 to 1,000, with 800 as the statewide target.
2010 Growth Target / A / "A" indicates this school scored at or above the Statewide Performance Target of 800 in 2009. A school with an API of 800 or above has no growth target, but must maintain an API of at least 800.
2010 API Target / N/A / A school with an API of 800 or above must maintain an API of at least 800.
2009 Statewide Rank / 9 / Each rank has 10% of all schools of the same type; 1 is lowest, 10 is highest.
2009 Similar Schools Rank / 2 / Each rank has 10% of all schools of the same type; 1 is lowest, 10 is highest.
2009 School Characteristics Index (SCI) / 188.7 / SCI values typically range from 100 to 200. The SCI values primarily reflect student demographics and are associated with student performance on state tests. The 50 schools of the same type (i.e. elementary, middle, or high) with SCI values just above this school's SCI and the 50 schools of the same type with values just below form its comparison group of 100 most similar schools.
Additional Data
2009 API School Type / Elementary School / Schools are designated as elementary, middle, high or small (11 to 99 valid test scores).
2009 API Students Included / 362 / Number of students (i.e., valid tests) included in the 2009 Base API.
Student Subgroup Performance
Student Subgroups / # Pupils * / API Base
Ethnicities
African American (not of Hispanic Origin) / 5 / --
American Indian/Alaska Native / 2 / --
Asian / 109 / 925
Filipino / 12 / --
Hispanic or Latino / 49 / --
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / 1 / --
White (not of Hispanic Origin) / 150 / 886
Two or More Races / 24 / --
Other Subgroups
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged / 26 / --
English Learners / 43 / --
Students with Disabilities / 66 / 761
Total
All Students Included in Base API / 362 / 895
Enrollment by Grade
Anza Elementary School, 2008-09
Enrollment
Kindergarten / 118
Grade 1 / 111
Grade 2 / 87
Grade 3 / 90
Grade 4 / 97
Grade 5 / 97
Total / 600
School Technology
Anza Elementary School, 2008-09
Number
Computers / 65
Students per Computer / 9.2
Classrooms with Internet / 30

EdSource – edsource.org

Independent and impartial, EdSource strives to advance the common good by developing and widely distributing trustworthy, useful information that clarifies complex K–14 issues and promotes thoughtful decisions about California’s public education system.