On Monday, October 28, 2024, the California Department of Education (CDE) posted a revised list of 2023 charter school renewal categories. California law provides four sets of provisions governing charter school renewal. One set applies to Dashboard Alternative Status Schools (DASS), and the other three sets apply to all other charter schools. A charter school’s California School Dashboard (Dashboard) state indicator data determines which of the three sets applies to the school. The CDE posts the “Performance Categories” file to indicate which of the three sets of renewal provisions apply to each charter school. The revised “Performance Categories” file reflects a change in how CDE is interpreting one element of statute and updates a previous file the CDE posted in March 2024. The new file includes 26 charter schools with revised categories out of 1,149 California charter schools with non-DASS status. Seven of the charter schools with revised categories have charter terms ending in 2025.
Background
A school’s renewal category is a high-stakes designation for charter renewal. The “high” category provides for streamlined renewal with a charter term of five to seven years. The “middle” category allows authorizers to renew any school for a term of five years. To deny the renewal of a charter school in the “middle” category, authorizers must make three specified findings of fact. The “low” category requires authorizers to deny the renewal of a charter school unless the authorizer makes two specified findings of fact.
CSDC and others have strongly objected to this three-track renewal framework due to its crude nature and the fact that it can call for non-renewal of schools with strong growth in academic achievement, especially for schools in the “low” category, the Dashboard data used in the determinations of categories largely reflect student performance levels, not student progress. Student progress is a better indicator of how well a school is performing, so the labels “High Performing,” “Middle Performing,” and “Low Performing” are ambiguous and can lead to misperception.
Schools can be in the “high” or “low” categories only if they meet one of two criteria: “Criterion 1” checks the charter school’s “Color” on all Dashboard State Indicators. The CDE has not revised this methodology. “Criterion 2” compares the charter school’s “Status” and the State of California’s Status on the English Language Arts, Mathematics, College/Career, and English Learner Progress Indicators. The comparison is not based on matched grade levels but rather on the Dashboard reflecting all K-12 students, without adjusting for grade span.
The criteria are applied based on the school’s Dashboard state indicators for the two years immediately preceding renewal. Currently, a charter school’s renewal category is based on 2022 and 2023 Dashboard data, as reflected in both the Performance Category file posted early in 2023 and in the CDE’s revised file. California law requires the CDE to post the 2024 Dashboard by December 1, 2024. When the 2024 Dashboard posts, the renewal categories will be based on 2023 and 2024 Dashboard data. Therefore, the CDE’s revised list applies only for a short time longer.
The Change
The CDE’s revised renewal categories are based on a new interpretation of “Criterion 2.” Part of Criterion 2 compares Dashboard Status for those student groups that, statewide, perform below the Dashboard Status for “All Students.” Nine of the 13 student groups that populate on the Dashboard score lower than the state average and therefore are used in the comparison (as applicable to the charter school). Criterion 2 checks if a “majority” of those student groups received a higher Dashboard Status than the State of California’s Dashboard Status for corresponding groups. Previously, the CDE interpreted “majority” to mean 50 percent or more of all such student groups. Now, the CDE is implementing “majority” to mean greater than 50 percent of such student groups. This change provides a more legally sound interpretation of “majority.”
The change places fewer schools in the “high” and “low” categories. Eight schools were moved from the “high” to the “middle” category. 18 schools were moved from the “low” to the “middle” category. Of the 26 schools that changed categories, seven schools have charter term end dates of 2025.
The removal of schools from the low categories produces an important substantive improvement. A common dynamic among schools in the “low” category are that the same students are often counted in two, three, or four student groups. For example, in these schools, a high proportion of English learner students are typically also in the Hispanic and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged student groups. In secondary schools, especially, English learner students who have not yet reclassified are also disproportionately represented in the Students with Disabilities group. Among schools that place in the “middle” and “high” categories, there is a lower proportion of students who double-count across groups. Interpreting “majority” to mean a greater than 50 percent has the effect of reducing the impact of student duplication across groups, particularly in the “low” category.
Seek Additional Resources and Support
CSDC has articles, handouts, and webinars that explain the renewal categories (note that these resources still reference the CDE’s interpretation of “majority” as greater than or equal to 50 percent). See also the CDE’s revised Determining the Charter School Performance Category flyer. To help schools understand how to target the “high” category and avoid the “low” category, CSDC produces a custom CSDC Renewal Worksheet for each CSDC Member School that analyzes historical trends related to these categories. Schools can also attend a related session on planning ahead for renewal at the 2024 CSDC Conference on November 18-20 in Sacramento. CSDC is offering a full program of charter renewal content at the upcoming conference, including a full-day summit on preparing the charter renewal petition. The morning part of the summit will provide guidance relevant to all charter renewals, and the afternoon portion will provide a deeper dive into preparing the renewal data narrative.
