Strategies Used by Charters to Grow Great Teachers and Leaders

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The Center for American Progress has released a new report that analyzes the strategies used by charter management organizations to address the inadequate pipeline of school leaders. "Preparing for Growth: Human Capital Innovations in Public Charter Schools" by Christi Chadwick and Julie Kowal of Public Impact adds to the discussion around this challenge and explores strategies for staffing success.

The report profiles the leadership pipeline-building strategies of six charter management organizations, or CMOs, and found the following key strategies for success:

Formalize processes and infrastructure—they look for specific leadership competencies in candidates and standardize recruitment and preparation processes.

Make the most of the people they attract—they provide additional training and focus teacher and principal responsibilities in key areas.

Import and train management talent—they work with teachers prepared through nontraditional routes, chose those with great potential, and then provide resources to help them be successful.

The six CMOs that were the basis for the study are: Green Dot Public Schools (Los Angeles, California), High Tech High (San Diego and Chula Vista, California), IDEA Public Schools (Rio Grande Valley, Texas), KIPP (20 states plus D.C.), Rocketship Education (San Jose, California) and YES Prep Public Schools (Houston, Texas).

“Strong leadership is a critical component of raising student achievement and improving all schools, whether they are charters or not,” said Cynthia G. Brown, Vice President for Education Policy at the Center for American Progress. “The lessons and best practices from this paper are applicable for any school seeking to grow great leaders.”