(NAME) Charter School Proposal: Staff Review of Revised Application

Pioneer Technology Charter School Proposal: Staff Review of Revisions to Application and Recommendations

At its December 10, 2007, meeting, the Board of Education voted 6-0, Director Henning absent, to deny the charter proposal submitted by the Pioneer Technology Charter School (Pioneer or Applicant). Though her vote is unofficial, the Student Representative concurred.

On December 19, 2007, district staff provided Applicant with documentation detailing reasons the application does not meet Portland Public School District’s criteria for authorization of a charter school, suggestions for remediation, and information about the process and timeline for submitting a revised application for consideration by the Board of Education, should Applicant choose to do so.

On January 18, 2008, Applicant submitted revisions to the application. Copies are included. Below are the staff review of the revisions and recommendations. Statements under Applicant’s Responses are quoted or summarized from Applicant’s written responses.

By: Cliff Brush

the plan to market to diverse populations, including detailed examples, and
where the potential pool of students for the charter school reside, taking into account that, consistent with ORS 338.125, the first priority for enrollment will go to students who reside within the sponsoring district,
how many of those students there are and where they are enrolled in school now,
which district schools’ enrollment trends may be affected if those students enroll in Pioneer,
the impact on those district schools if the students in the potential pool enroll in Pioneer,
how the potential pool of students are those targeted by the charter school proposal, and
why Pioneer would provide new, innovative, or more flexible ways of educating children that are not already available in other district schools or programs. Describe the methods used to make that determination.

Rose Education Center uses a variety of activities to attract and enroll students, which includes newspaper ads, direct mailing, open houses and tutoring centers for the students of the area schools. We will hire public relations managers and rent a tutoring and information center to reach out our target student population. We will also open booths at the regional malls and community centers. Recruitment activities will start as soon as the Pioneer Technology charter proposal is approved by the Portland Public Schools (p.1).

Our plan for a comprehensive community outreach and advertising includes meetings with community leaders, door-to-door advertising, direct mailing, fliers, bulletins, media coverage, and public presentations such as open houses at the MSA and other public institutions (public libraries, community centers…). We have met with several community leaders, and we have set up a web page at to provide online presentations and information about the school (p.2).
Applicant’s proposed marketing plan includes:

Supporting Parents: a group of actively involved parents at each school location, who help advertise the school.
Public Relations Managers: bilingual in Spanish, Russian and other local languages to publicize our new schools.
Free tutoring and Information Office: a small free-tutoring and information office to inform and attract students and parents.
Flyers, Brochures: brochures at common places such as public libraries, and community centers. Flyers will be printed in the area minorities’ languages such as Spanish and Russian.
TV ads: in Spanish, Russian and other local languages as well as English.
Open houses: Two per month from March to August.

Applicant presents data identifying a potential pool of 101 students (p.3). Of those, 40 reportedly attend PPS schools, 45 attend schools in other Portland area districts, and 16 attend schools in Vancouver, Washington.
See 2 above.
As shown above 40% of our students are from Portland Public Schools. No district schools will be affected considerably by these numbers (p.4).
Pioneer has proved its ability to attract students not only from Portland Public Schools, but also from neighboring school districts, private schools and homeschooled students with the parent signatures submitted (p.4). Applicant asserts that, when Pioneer reaches enrollment of 265 students in grades 6-8, no more than 50 of those students would have been attending a district school. Therefore the school will not cause any adverse impacts (p.4).
Development team members needed further clarification to be able to answer this question (p.4).
Pioneer will replicate a unique and very powerful research-based, proven method that has been very successful with low-performing and minority students. Target area has many low performing students. None of the area public schools has similar programs. Examples from Applicant’s revisions (pp.5-6).

Education of every student is immediately tailored according to individual student needs . . . determined with a standards-based and widely implemented test. MAP tests will be implemented 3 times a year and education will be revised and refined for every single student.
Home visits are a unique component which provides especially minority and low achieving students with a unique opportunity to get their parents involved.
Mandatory free after-school tutoring is another unique component that is not provided in any of the area schools.
Through Saxon math and Silent sustained reading with Descartes, students receive their appropriate level math instruction and read their appropriate level books chosen according to the standards they missed on the standardized tests.
Math, Science Olympiad Program (MSOP) © is another unique program, no schools in Portland has such a program.
Pioneer will be successful with the southeast Portland and the neighboring areas’ low performing students who [have] not been performing well in the traditional educational settings.

Applicant proposes an ambitious marketing plan. Costs are not described. Given the additional information, it is not clear whether the plan could be implemented within Applicant’s proposed budget, which projects $5k for printing and mailing, and $7.5k for recruitment of students, which includes a part-time secretary at $12/hr.
Pioneer may not claim Oregon state school funds for the 16 students residing in Vancouver, Washington, or for students residing in Camas or any other area outside of Oregon. If Pioneer projects state school fund revenues for those students, that could have a significant and adverse impact on its projected revenues.

At least some of the 17 students listed at page 3 as living in “Other Districts” live in Wilsonville (approx. 19 miles, 25 minutes one way from the proposed SE Portland site), St. Helens (approx. 32 miles, 50 minutes one way), Scappoose (approx. 23 miles, 30 minutes one way), Canby (approx. 26 miles, 36 minutes one way), Tigard (approx. 18 miles, 25 minutes one way). The responses do not address how the families or the school would provide those significant daily commutes within the school’s budget.

See 2 above.
Under ORS 338.125, students residing in the Portland district would have enrollment priority over families outside the district. Currently, approximately 87% of students enrolled in district charter schools reside in neighborhoods of district schools. As of May 2007, 82% of Portland’s charter school students in grades 6-8 had previously attended a Portland district neighborhood school. It is reasonable to assume that those statistics would apply to Pioneer. That assumption casts doubt on Applicant’s projection that only 40% of Pioneer’s students would come from Portland schools.
See 4 above.
Applicant did not request clarification before submitting revisions. This suggested revision is intended to give Applicant the opportunity to show how the potential pool of students includes students who are targeted in Applicant’s proposal.
Applicant provides examples of ways Pioneer would educate children that Applicant asserts are not already available in other district schools or programs. Applicant does not describe the method used to make that determination (e.g. site visits, reviews of school improvement plans, interviews). The application and revisions do not explain why Applicant’s proposed Math Science Olympiad Program is different from or more effective than options already available in the district such as the Middle School and High School Science Bowl, Math Counts, or American Mathematics Competition.

Recommendation

The application should be withdrawn or denied. Any future application should include the data necessary for the district and the Applicant to make valid and reliable conclusions about sustainable support for the public charter school by teachers, parents, students, and other community members.
It is important to a declining enrollment district and to the Applicant’s program and budget to have detailed, valid, and reliable data and descriptions of the potential pool of students. This application and responses to suggestions for revisions do not yet provide that information.
In contrast, the Ivy School application provides a recent example of a thorough analysis of potential enrollment in a proposed charter school.

PIONEER: REASON for DENIAL / SUGGESTIONS
for REVISIONS (Sent 12.19.07) / APPLICANT’S
RESPONSES (Pages Cited). / STAFF REVIEW and
RECOMMENDATIONS (Pages Cited)
The application and other materials do not provide detail satisfactory to the district about the capability of the applicant, in terms of support and planning, to provide comprehensive instructional programs to students pursuant to an approved proposal. / Applicant intends to replicate programs offered by Magnolia Science Academy (Magnolia) in Reseda, California. Provide additional information about Magnolia’s performance as measured by California standards. Include,

for the most recent year reported,
aggregated academic performance data,
NCLB subgroups academic performance data,
a description of the academic assessments used,
suspension and expulsion data,
dropout data,
credit recovery data,
diploma graduation data,
data showing Magnolia’s performance as compared to averages for the state, the sponsoring district, and similar schools, and
academic and behavior trend data over Magnolia’s years of operation, and
copies of the most recent state and district evaluations of Magnolia.

Provide a letter from the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission explaining if and how it would license or register individuals from foreign countries so that they qualify to teach or administrate in an Oregon public charter school.
Clarify who will administer or direct school operations and provide information about his or her qualifications and availability. /

Data for are reported at pages 7-15 of Applicant’s responses. AYP results are to California state standards. Results are reported on the California Department of Education website. In 2006-7:

Magnolia’s enrollment was 66% Hispanic or Latino, 7% African American, and 23% White.
Magnolia’s Free and Reduced Price Lunch Rate was 84%.
Magnolia met schoolwide AYP participation and proficiency criteria in English/language arts and in mathematics.
Magnolia’s Hispanic/Latino and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged subgroups met AYP participation and proficiency criteria. Other subgroups not reported.
Magnolia reported no expulsions.
Magnolia’s 1 and 4-year drop out rates were 0%.
Credit recovery data audit reports are available on request but were not provided by Applicant.
Magnolia began graduating students and reported a 100% graduation rate.
Magnolia’s California Academic Performance Indicator scores exceeded those for the district and the state. API scores are reported for Magnolia for 2003-2007. Magnolia exceeded district and state API scores for all years except 2003.

Magnolia has consistently ranked high on California’s Similar Schools Ranking.

See 1 above.
See Applicant’s written responses.

A copy of a TSPC email is in the responses (p. 16). It states in parts:

For those with Foreign degrees, that want to obtain licensure will need to have a transcript evaluation compiled for us equivalency, and complete an approved teacher education program. The institutions with programs may be able to provide the service of transcript evaluation for those enrolling into programs, however the following is a list of organizations that provide that service that we will accept evaluations from.
For those in need of registry, they will just need to register with the co application of the charter school director.

Below are excerpts from pages 17-8 of the responses clarifying who will direct and administer Pioneer.

The board of trustees of Pioneer Technology Charter School will be responsible for running the school. Dr. Suleyman Karaman is the president of this board. Charter School has a dedicated and experienced development team and a school board. As a professor of economics and an education entrepreneur Dr. Karaman has been involved in charter school business since 2000.
Principal Mr. David Yilmaz of Pioneer Technology Charter School holds a masters degree in Electronics from the University of California-Irvine. He started as a science teacher at Magnolia Science Academy from scratch and has been the only vice principal at Momentum Middle School for the last two years. He has been handling both academics and the discipline. He is going to move to Portland area in 2008.
Dr. Fatih Hamzaoglu received his M.S. degree from Clemson University, Clemson, SC, in 1998, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, in 2002, all in electrical engineering. After finishing his Ph.D. work in September 2002, he joined Pioneer Charter School Development Team, and worked at Intel Corporation, as a Senior Design Engineer. Dr. Hamzaoglu is a key personality in our connection with the local industry. He knows how to establish a cooperation between our school and the technology industry to reach a large pool of funds, internships and many other opportunities.
Mr. Ertugrul Kostereli achieved his masters’ degree in social studies education. He served as a social studies teacher in middle and high school levels at a school established for orphan children. He is in the EdD program at Portland State University in the Curriculum and Instruction department. He will contribute experience in curriculum design.

Much of the data are presented raw without explanation or analysis. The data suggest that, as measured by California performance standards, Magnolia Science Academy has consistently met or exceeded its academic and other targets and has outperformed its district and state.
See 1 above.
See 1 above.

The TSPC email copied in Applicant’s responses explains how TSPC would license or register individuals from foreign countries to teach in an Oregon charter school. It would be up to the individual to meet TSPC requirements.
The responses help clarify who will direct and administer the school and explain their qualifications. In most cases, the responses do not provide information about their availability.
Recommendation
The application should be withdrawn for further development and re-submission in July 2008 or denied for the reasons stated at pages 3 and 12.
In the future, any additional information provided about Magnolia should include an analysis of the raw data.

PIONEER: REASON for DENIAL / SUGGESTIONS
for REVISIONS (Sent 12.19.07) / APPLICANT’S
RESPONSES (Pages Cited). / STAFF REVIEW and
RECOMMENDATIONS (Pages Cited)
The application and other materials do not provide detail satisfactory to the district about the capability of the applicant, in terms of support and planning, to specifically provide, pursuant to an approved proposal, comprehensive instructional programs to students identified by the applicant as academically low achieving. / Applicant proposes to replicate the Magnolia charter school program. Provide data showing

Magnolia’s methods for identifying academically low achieving students, and Magnolia’s effectiveness in
providing comprehensive instructional programs to those students,
improving those students’ academic performance,
reducing dropout rates for those students, and
increasing the number of those students who earn standard diplomas or GEDs.

Applicant proposes to use Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs) tests to identify academically low achieving students. If Magnolia uses MAPs tests, provide

a description of how they are used, and
MAPs test data demonstrating Magnolia’s effectiveness in providing instruction to and improving the academic performance of academically low achieving students.

Provide information about how home visits will be appropriate and conducted within the proposed budget for students with challenging home environments and for students who may live outside the district. / Below are excerpts from pages 19-24 of the responses regarding the Magnolia programs.

In addition to state tests, Magnolia Science Academy Science Academy employs a non-profit organization, The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), which offers computer-adapted tests to schools and school districts to evaluate the student learning and make necessary suggestions to teachers for individual students.

The tests are used to measure individual levels of student performance reflected in the individual State Content Standards. Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) testing is not used as a basis of yearly promotion. It provides a valuable resource to identify students in need of remediation and intervention.
Student test results are maintained so teachers and parents can monitor the growth of individual students over time. Students are tested in four main subject areas: Reading, Language Usage, Mathematics and Science. Registration records, home visits and parent surveys are also used.
Staff meetings are organized so that teachers teaching the same subjects same grade levels meet biweekly and discuss necessary changes in instruction to help individual students according to MAP test results, parent conferences and home visits.
Magnolia Science Academy has a small class size. This certainly enhances each teacher's ability to give individual attention to students. This is critical for socio-economically disadvantaged and low-achieving students. Teachers can very effectively monitor the progress of the students in a classroom with no more than 25 students.
Following sections discuss uses of Saxon Math and Silent Sustained Reading.
The educational environment involves both in-class and after-class individual attention. Students receive tutoring from the faculty and from volunteers from area universities. The after-school tutoring program is structured to fit individual student needs. Some students may require tutoring one afternoon a week, whereas others may require daily tutoring. The tutoring program benefits students who are not classified as low achievers. Tutors are available to students performing at or above grade level upon request. Tutoring sessions generally occur after school, but some may be scheduled in the weekends, depending on student and parent preferences.
For items 2-5, see the discussion of academic performance data at page 5.
Pages 25-27 of the responses regarding Magnolia’s use of Measures of Academic Progress (MAPS) tests repeat the information discussed above.
Applicant’s response regarding home visits: Home visits are not mandatory. Purpose of the home visit will be well communicated through a phone call and other means [of] communication. If a parent still denies home visits, s/he will be provided with an option of a parent conference at school (p.28). / Magnolia’s uses of the NWEA’s MAP tests are consistent with those being implemented by some Portland district charter schools and alternative education programs.
The response about home visits does not completely address the suggestion because it does not describe how visits will be done for students with challenging home environments whose parents agree to the visits and it does not describe how visits will be done within the proposed budget.

Recommendation

The application should be withdrawn for further development and re-submission in July 2008 or denied for the reasons stated at pages 3 and 12 and because it does not completely address the conduct and costs of home visits.