NACSA Blog

NACSA Blog

Press Releases


DC Public Charter School Board Executive Director to Serve as Board Chair of National Charter Organization

Scott Pearson to serve as chair of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers’ Board of Directors  CHICAGO— The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) announced today that Scott Pearson will …


NACSA Encourages President Obama to Sign Every Student Succeeds Act

Today, the US Senate passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)—a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—in an 85-12 vote. The legislation, which was passed by the US House …


Alabama Charter School Law Lands in Top 5 for School Oversight According to National Analysis

A national ranking of charter school policies released today by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) recognizes and applauds the strength of Alabama’s first charter school law. The report, “On …

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Oklahoma Charter School Laws Land in Top 10 for School Oversight According to National Analysis

A national ranking of charter school policies released today by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) recognizes and applauds the strength of Oklahoma’s charter school oversight provisions. The report, “On …

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Strong Charter School Accountability Laws in Nevada Receive Perfect Score in National Analysis

Nevada’s strong charter school laws earned the highest score in a national ranking of charter school policies out today from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). The report, “On the …

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Silver Bullets and Unicorns

Silver bullets and unicorns have three important characteristics in common. 1.) They don’t exist; 2) No one older than 16 believes that they exist; and 3) anyone claiming that someone else believes …


School Performance Analysis 2.0

Guest Post from Rob Kimball, Sr. Director of Operations & Policy, Grand Valley State University Charter Schools Office Regardless of the size of an authorizer’s portfolio, a laser-like focus on school performance is critical to …


The Tide Rises in Washington D.C.

Scott Pearson, Executive Director of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, has a new two-part blog post up about the questions raised in Emma Brown’s recent article on charter school growth in the …


Standards and Accountability for Charter School Authorizers

Today, the Detroit Free Press covers an important new report submitted to the Michigan Board of Education. The report ranks, for the first time, the state’s 11 largest authorizers “based on student achievement, student growth over time, authorizer improvement …


Low-Performing Charter Schools Fight Closure in Indiana

Last month, the charter schools office at Ball State University announced that it was revoking the charters of seven of its lowest performing schools for failure to meet the performance expectations outlined …


Closing bad charters isn’t the only challenge

The Fordham Institute’s Adam Emerson emphasizes the critical role that new schools must play in the transformation of one million lives. The One Million Lives Campaign launched in the fall by the National Association of …


Visualizing the Need for Great New Schools

As part of its annual Call for Quality Options, the Louisiana Department of Education has launched a new interactive information center to accompany the various ways in which the department is seeking …


D.C. debates growth of charter schools

The Washington Post’s Emma Brown scratches the surface of some of the difficult issues that arise when a city’s charter schools educate the same percentage of kids as its district schools.


New schools, new opportunities—seven steps to strategic change

Crossposted at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Closing schools, district or charter, is almost always difficult and disruptive. We should not pretend, though, that the disruption that comes with closure is worse …


New CREDO Study Confirms Need for Smarter Replication and Faster Action on Failing Schools

The Charter School Growth and Replication study released last week by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) has important implications for charter authorizers. The study’s key findings–that charter school performance is …