Improving your charter school: seven reasons for an external review

Growing accountability and the need to maintain registration are becoming increasingly challenging for charter schools. A comprehensive external review can provide invaluable information to help you manage this.

Here are 7 reasons why you should consider one for your school.

1. External reviews have proved to be an effective means of driving up standards. A review of your school will identify strengths and areas for improvement, and provide valuable data to show progress of improvement.

2. Highly trained, professional inspectors will visit your charter school to assess the school’s effectiveness. With recent and relevant school or district experience, their expertise and knowledge will provide you with an accurate, up to date evaluation of your school.

3. Reviews are valuable at almost any stage of a charter school’s development, but they are particularly useful in the second year. They provide a mid-term health check or can act as a preview to a renewal visit, giving you confidence in your charter renewal.

4. Reports produced as part of the review process provide useful information for your staff, policymakers and parents, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of your school. Attention is paid to how well your school is addressing the needs of the students you serve. Recommendations are made for areas which could be improved, with practical suggestions to eliminate weaknesses and improve the quality of your provision.

5. Reviews identify and generate data on a much broader range of school activities and educational outcomes than just the performance of test scores. They measure, for example, the skills needed for good citizenship, healthy interpersonal relationships and personal fulfillment.

6. Schools are only held accountable for the practices under their control during a review. This process could result in authorizers and charter management organizations being alerted to the additional resources or capacity needed to meet the needs of their students. Reviews can also be used to measure the quality of support and oversight provided by charter school authorizers and the impact made by Charter Management Organizations.

7. Once a successful renewal process is complete, charter school authorizers can use findings from a school review to agree new goals based on recent evidence to ensure continued, targeted and effective school improvement, and the best education for your students.

Class Measures can provide an independent evaluation of how effective your school is and help you identify areas for improvement and action planning.

Visit our website to find out more: https://www.classmeasures.com/