A case study of student achievement in a secondary charter school

Beginning in 2009, and with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, school districts across the United States began to be held to higher standards and their progress publicly reported. Student achievement began to be measured by standardized testing and great efforts were being made to reduce the achievement gap. This paper is based on a five-year study of teacher evaluation in two urban districts in Massachusetts where improving teacher practice was seen as an important factor in raising student achievement. This research studied efforts to address those teachers who were identified as underperforming and were supported through individual improvement plans. This paper used a case study approach to show what the practices of a sampling of these teachers looked like, teachers’ reactions to being rated unsatisfactory, and teachers’ reactions to the improvement planning process.

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A Case Study of Attrition at a Virtual Charter School

10.17918/etd-7479 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jon D. Marsh

Keyword(s):

Charter School

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STEM Learning Communities

Cases on Interdisciplinary Research Trends in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics - Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-2214-2.ch003 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 57-74

Author(s):

Bernadette Kelley ◽

Lisa McClelland

Keyword(s):

Student Achievement ◽

Learning Communities ◽

Learning Community ◽

Academic Progress ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

Retention Rates ◽

Stem Learning ◽

Community Learning ◽

And Mathematics

This chapter presents a case study involving the fictional Coastal University’s move to the next level of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) student achievement by applying a holistic approach to educating the STEM student using a learning community. Learning communities are designed to improve retention rates, increase student learning and achievement, increase faculty engagement, and lessen the feelings of isolation some students feel on large campuses. This case discusses the various components that were utilized to enhance the learning community including cluster courses, seminars, branch activities, academic progress assessments, and meetings. The challenges with the implementation of the learning community and the engagement in interdisciplinary activities will be discussed as will recommendations for the future.

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Expanding Equity and Access in State-Authorized Charter Schools

Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies - Challenges to Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs in Organizations ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-4093-0.ch004 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 42-61

Author(s):

Ryan Marks ◽

Clare Vickland

Keyword(s):

Charter Schools ◽

Charter School ◽

Active Role ◽

Diverse Populations ◽

Equity And Access ◽

Access And Equity ◽

Partnership Approach ◽

Equity And Inclusion ◽

Improve Access

Charter schools are founded on principles of autonomy, accountability, and parent and family choice. Charter school authorizers occupy a unique space at the nexus of these ideas, which allows them to take an active role to drive change to improve access and equity in schools. This chapter describes how one charter school authorizer planned for and implemented a successful diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. The case study specifically outlines the approach of the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI) in implementing equity audits to leverage data to build relationships and supports. Though the concept of analyzing equity data is not novel, the partnership approach employed by CSI to support, rather than evaluate, schools is uncommon. This approach has led to improvements in student outcomes and an increase in equity across the portfolio and can be applied by practitioners across many contexts, including district schools, nonprofits, and corporations seeking to improve both access and equity for diverse populations.

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Acoustic design of the Charles R. Drew Charter School media center—a case study

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America ◽

10.1121/1.4744806 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 109 (5) ◽

pp. 2478-2478

Author(s):

Jesse J. Ehnert

Keyword(s):

Charter School ◽

Acoustic Design ◽

Media Center

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The good principal: A case study of early-career charter principals’ role conceptualizations

Management in Education ◽

10.1177/0892020618795202 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 157-165

Author(s):

Felicia R. Truong

Keyword(s):

Charter School ◽

School Principals ◽

Qualitative Case Study ◽

Soft Skills ◽

The United States ◽

Early Career ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Charter School Principals ◽

Service Training

Up to 75 percent of charter principals in the United States leave the role within five years. Understanding how early-career principals conceptualize the role could help strengthen principal preparation and in-service training. This study analyzed early-career charter principals’ descriptions of the principalship in order to understand their framework for what it means to be a good principal. A qualitative case study was used, focused on semi-structured interviews with 15 charter school principals. Charter school principals in this study primarily defined being a ‘good’ principal using examples and descriptions of soft skills and personality traits.

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The Network Runs the Schools: From a Loose to a Tightly Coupled School District

Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership ◽

10.1177/1555458920943247 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 47-61

Author(s):

Patricia M. Virella ◽

Jennie M. Weiner

Keyword(s):

Student Achievement ◽

Hybrid Approach ◽

Educational Leaders ◽

Central Office Administrators ◽

Teacher Student Relationships ◽

Teacher Student ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Tightly Coupled ◽

Pros And Cons

This case study explores a central office’s attempt to improve its school performance by shifting from a loosely to a more tightly coupled organization through greater oversight and standardization of practice. Educational leaders and, specifically, district-level and central office administrators often negotiate between providing schools autonomy and pursuing greater accountability and uniformity to foster improved student achievement. Educators studying this case will examine the pros and cons of both approaches as well as the potential trade-offs when shifting from one system to another or engaging in a hybrid approach on elements like teacher motivation, teacher–student relationships, school culture, and student achievement.

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Transformational Learning in Higher Education Settings: A Case Study of “Teaching Teachers to Teach”

International Journal of Education ◽

10.5296/ije.v10i4.13750 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 20

Author(s):

Sonya Hidalgo ◽

Mark Koebernik ◽

Kathlene Williams

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Student Achievement ◽

Adult Students ◽

Transformational Learning ◽

University Faculty ◽

Education Faculty ◽

Higher Education Faculty ◽

Self Reflection ◽

Disorienting Dilemma

Transformational learning (TL) theory posits that adult students experience a disorienting dilemma and then engage in critical self-reflection (Mezirow, 1997). University faculty are often not pursuant toward improving andragogy skills, including utilizing TL. The purpose of this study is to determine if student achievement would increase if higher education faculty were trained to be better teachers in addition to being experts in their chosen field.

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