A handful of prominent charter school networks that have won praise for their academic performance and unorthodox models are expanding to new parts of the country, in some cases after receiving recruiting pitches from state and local officials determined to bring proven operators into their communities. Until now, organizations such as Aspire…

For Lynch View Elementary, a K-5 school in suburban Portland, the school day doesn't end when the bell rings at 2:22 p.m. As one of 64 "community schools" in Multnomah County, the school also provides homework assistance, academic enrichment, free breakfast and dinner for students, a weekly food pantry, a host site for local medical…

This article features Bookshare, a nonprofit that provides free electronic copies of traditional books to students with certain disabilities. Inspired by Napster, the music-sharing service, Bookshare turns books into a format that can be read aloud by computers, magnified, and spaced differently so that students with vision problems or learning…

The author reports on a national study of middle school students in 40 charter networks which finds that, when it comes to having an impact on student achievement, results vary and, overall, charter students do not learn dramatically more than their counterparts in regular public schools. The findings from the research group Mathematica and the…

GreatSchools.org neatly ranks more than 136,000 traditional public, private, and charter schools nationwide on a scale of 1 to 10, based on state test scores. But what often draws readers are the gossipy insider comments posted by parents, students, and teachers, and the star ratings those commenters contribute. The growth of online school rating…

Talk of "turning around" troubled schools has become synonymous with firing educators, but a nonprofit organization in Chicago with a successful track record takes a different approach. In 2006, Strategic Learning Initiatives (SLI) signed a contract with the Chicago public schools to help 10 schools serving grades K-8. More than 95…

Amid the country's economic downturn, planned giving levels by many education grantmakers declined last year. A new analysis of trends in education philanthropy finds, however, that a sizable minority of those surveyed said they expected the grants paid out to hold steady, compared with 2008. A smaller group even planned to increase funding. The…

In nearly 40 years of legislative advocacy, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)--a free-market, limited-government group now drawing intense scrutiny for its support of a controversial self-defense law--has had a significant influence on K-12 education through its model legislation and work with state lawmakers to promote such…

The author reports on the "restart" option in the federal school turnaround program which offer new opportunities for charter school operators. Some of the nation's largest and best-known charter-management organizations have not jumped at the opportunity to "restart" schools with federal economic-stimulus money, but a wide range of smaller…

After years of talk and stalled efforts, the creation of a national certification program for principals is finally under way, with plans to launch the initiative formally in 2011. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)--which is spearheading the venture that will mirror the now 20-year-old advanced-certification program it…

It's not easy to keep young people on task for learning in a youth prison, but David Domenici, the principal of the Maya Angelou Academy, a charter-like school serving incarcerated juveniles, is trying to do it while at the same time creating a model program for improving educational services for young offenders. Located at the New Beginnings…

The central office isn't being overlooked in the movement to find and develop top talent for school districts. Although ways to recruit, groom, and keep top teachers and strong principals tend to dominate discussions of "human capital" needs in education, a handful of nonprofit organizations and foundations also see providing smart managers as…

A report from Education Sector raises questions about the ability of charter schools and charter-management organizations (CMOs) to scale up as dramatically as their supporters might hope. "The extraordinary demands of educating disadvantaged students to higher standards, the challenges of attracting the talent required to do that work, the burden…

This article describes one community-based nonprofit group that provides free tutoring to poor children under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. Unlike most other tutoring sessions under the law, the one at Erie Neighborhood House, a social-services agency in Chicago, is not happening in a school building or at a corporate tutoring outlet. Those…

This article discusses After School Matters, a nonprofit organization that works with dozens of community-based groups across Chicago to connect teenagers with a vast number of opportunities in the arts, sports, technology, and communications. The 13- through 19-year-olds participating in After School Matters programs do not just sign up for…