NACSA Blog

NACSA Blog

Press Releases


National Association of Charter School Authorizers Appoints Education Leaders to National Advisory Board

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) is pleased to announce the appointment of seven distinguished professionals to its National Advisory Board. The 23- member board is comprised of leaders from …


National Survey Shows Charter School Closure Rates Dropped in 2010-2011 School Year

January 30, 2012 (Chicago, Ill.) – A report released today by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) indicates charter school closures have declined over the past three years. These findings …


NACSA Hails Congressional Action to Strengthen Charter School Authorizing

In adopting the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010, Congress recognizes for the first time the important role charter school authorizers play in determining charter school quality, winning it praise from the National …


NACSA Announces 2009 Awards for Excellence

The NACSA Awards for Excellence program celebrates individuals and organizations that advance the authorizing profession in three fields: • Advancing Knowledge, • Improving Policy, and • Improving Practice. NACSA announced the 2009 …


The Fund for Authorizing Excellence

NACSA established The Fund for Authorizing Excellence (The Fund) earlier this year to provide direct support to NACSA members who are working to create charter environments that foster schools with high student …


Postcard from the Statehouse: St. Paul, MN

Hello from a chilly St. Paul, Minnesota!  Earlier this week, the House Education Committee chose to incorporate into an omnibus bill, HF 998, legislation that would create a closure provision for charter …


Core Principles and Essential Practices

This week NACSA released the second edition of its Index of Essential Practices.  The Index articulates a set of practices for authorizers that can significantly improve the quality of their work—and in turn …


Accountability in Minnesota

Check out the new op-ed from Al Fan of Charter School Partners and NACSA’s Alex Medler on the need for greater accountability for the state’s charter schools. “A bi-partisan bill is making …


Postcard from the Statehouse: Nashville, TN

Greetings from Nashville! Earlier this week, the House Education Committee passed HB 0702, legislation that would create the State Charter School Panel, an independent chartering board.  The Panel would serve as an …


Charter School Authorizers Group Issues 2012 Professional Practice Index

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) today released its 2012 Index of Essential Practices, a set of professional practices to guide quality charter school approval and monitoring. Good charter school …


Beware Charter School Authorizer Shopping

The Fort Wayne, IN Journal Gazette, published an op-ed over the weekend by NACSA president and CEO, Greg Richmond. Richmond warns against the dangers of charter school forum shopping whereby a charter …


One Million Lives In Action: Ball State University

Although Ball State University’s Office of Charter Schools has faced some tough criticism in the past, it is working to set an example of how an authorizer can drastically improve its policies …


New CREDO Study Finds Massachusetts Charter School Students Making Greater Gains

A new report from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University (CREDO) “found that the typical student in a Massachusetts charter school gains more learning in a year than …


NACSA Commends KIPP on Strong Student Achievement

NACSA’s president and CEO, Greg Richmond, issued the following statement regarding the KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes study released yesterday by Mathematica Policy Research: “Today’s Mathematica Policy Research study on the positive …


KIPP Impact: “Statistically significant, and educationally substantial”

Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, has released a new study of KIPP middle schools. The study, funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, found that “The average impact of KIPP on student achievement is …