NACSA Blog

NACSA Blog

Press Releases


Multi-State Analysis of Charter School Proposals and Approvals Reveals a Diverse Sector Shaped by Authorizers

Report uncovers increased share of freestanding school proposals, decrease in for-profit and “No Excuses” proposals, and few proposals receive philanthropic support.  CHICAGO — A new report released today by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) offers a never-before-seen …


New Digital Campaign Highlights the Need to Improve Charter School Authorizing

New explainer videos demystify the role of charter school authorizers, which remains largely misunderstood 25 years into the charter school movement. The critical role authorizers play in determining the overall quality of …


NACSA CEO Testifies to Congress on Power of Charter School Authorizing

On June 13, 2018, NACSA President and CEO Greg Richmond and a select panel of education reform leaders will testify in front of the House Education and Workforce Committee on the value of charter …


NACSA Testifies on CA Authorizing Bill SB 1362

Today, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Policy Director Veronica Brooks-Uy will testify before the California Senate Education Committee on SB 1362, a bill that addresses charter school authorizing issues …


New Report Identifies What Charter School Authorizers Do Differently to Achieve High-Performing Portfolios

New report finds successful authorizing depends on great leadership, institutional commitment, and strong professional judgment CHICAGO — Today, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) releases “Leadership, Commitment, Judgment: Elements of …


Strong Authorizing Practices Produced Better Schools for 230,000 Students in 2013

More than 230,000 students are attending better schools in 2013 because of the actions of charter school authorizers across the country, according to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). Authorizers …


Strong progress toward One Million Lives

Just over a year ago, NACSA announced an ambitious goal to provide better schools to one million children over five years. We called it our One Million Lives campaign because we knew …


Low Expectations Are Not the Right Expectations

Last week Education Next published an article entitled “Choosing the Right Growth Measure” that compares three types of growth models and claims that the “best” model is a two-step value-added model (VAM) …


NACSA Core Performance Framework Guidance

Buckets of Charter Schools

The oversight of charter schools has changed dramatically from the beginning of the movement.  States and authorizers are applying increasingly sophisticated tools to assess the performance of the schools they oversee.  A …


Growing Charter Schools with a Strong Eye for Quality is Not Only Possible; It is Essential.

Guest Post:  Kevin Hall, President & CEO, Charter School Growth Fund As we navigate our decisions in our daily lives, we know that having the ability to make good choices is fundamentally critical …


National Association of Charter School Authorizers and the Charter School Growth Fund release recommendatons for successful replication of high-performing charter schools

State policies must change to differentiate and grow high-performing charter schools and weed out the low performers according to a report released today by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) …


A National Response to CSP Guidance

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) recently released a set of draft priorities that would be used in future competitions under the Charter Schools Programs’ (CSP) to award grants under the National …


NACSA Calls on Nation’s Charter School Authorizers to Act Now to Maintain Accountability

In a statement released today, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) cautioned that while the upcoming shift to Common Core standards provides a long-term opportunity to improve the nation’s schools, it …


No Time to Waste

Implementation of the Common Core State Standards will present an array of new challenges everywhere they are adopted. The biggest challenge for charter school authorizers will be maintaining strong accountability for school …


Accountability in Action

At the heart of the charter school concept is the idea that schools, like all organizations, are most effective when they have the flexibility necessary to be captains of their destiny and …