Recruiting and Hiring Effective Teachers
These resources focus entirely on the hiring of instructional staff. Topics covered include teacher certification, recruitment strategies, establishing competency criteria, and developing indicators.
SUNY CSI Start-Up Checklist
Opening a Charter School for the first time is a daunting task. This checklist from the SUNY Charter School Institute helps new Charter Schools keep track of every important action item necessary for Start-Up for schools that are authorized by SUNY CSI.
Board Positions
Understanding the roles and responsibilities of board members is an important step in effective governance. These resources will help clarify what the board chair and other board members' roles are, and the characteristics to look for in candidates for particular positions.
Building a Charter School Founding Board
The skills and dedication of the personnel who make up the founding charter school Board are essential for a new school's success. These resources will help schools recruit the right board members and get their new boards up and running.
Critical board building challenge: How does a charter school board clearly define its roles, responsibilities and philosophy of governance? Building an Effective Charter School Board is an extensive guidebook that covers every topic imaginable for new charter schools assembling a Board of Trustees for the first time.
OPT for Charter Schools
Managing transportation can be very challenging for new Charter Schools. These two presentations from the NYC DOE's Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) will make that task easier. OPT Basics explains the structure of the Office of Pupil Transportation and how charter schools work with OPT; Charter School Transportation Overview has current information on topics including eligibility, MetroCards, yellow bus service, and special education needs.
Charter Management Organization Guide
Of all the decisions made by new Charter Schools, few are more important than
deciding whether to contract for school management services. Choosing well requires
balancing multiple considerations of finance, accountability, personnel, and public relations. This guidebook from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools provides evenhanded, user-friendly advice for those considering contracting for charter school management.
OPT Request for Service Procedure
This guide from the NYC DOE's Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) pertains to procedures for requesting services. Included in this guide are: A List of Forms and Documentation; an Explanation of OPT Criteria; and an Explanation of Charter School Responsibilities. The OPT Request for Service form is also included.
Sample Data Dashboard
A Data Dashboard is an essential tool for all charter schools. It enables school leaders to instantly check a variety of metrics and assess where their students are at with respect to standardized testing and attendance among others. This sample is from Gotham City Charter School.
Creating Data-Driven Schools
Many school districts underutilize one of the most powerful and common symbol systems available to them—numbers—to monitor, evaluate, and revise programs and policies. In this abstract from Education Leadership, a trio of authors examine new ways for school leaders and teachers to make the most of the data available to them.
SMART Goals Connect a School
School staff are periodically reminded to revisit their SMART goals—goals that are Strategic and Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based, and Timebound, in order to better assess the student population across learning disciplines. This article by Jan O'Neill offers useful advice for doing so.