Yesterday the State Board of Education approved revisions to its adoption defining “verified data” that charter schools may use to demonstrate growth in student achievement during the charter renewal process. The revisions represent a major advocacy victory for CSDC and other charter school advocates who worked together over a months-long process. CSDC thanks the California Department of Education (the Department) for recommending several suggested policy edits and the State Board of Education (the Board) for adopting nearly all of the advocates’ recommendations. In CSDC’s view, the adopted edits support sound data use in charter renewals and can help prevent closures of schools with growth that may not be apparent.
Background
Assembly Bill 1505 (2019) imposed a complex charter school renewal process (PDF) that starts with placement of most charter schools1 onto three tracks, as follows:
- Presumptive Renewal2—For schools scoring high on California School Dashboard (Dashboard) state indicators,
- Default Renewal—For schools that do not meet the criteria for the other two tracks, and
- Presumptive Denial/2-Year Renewal—For schools scoring low on Dashboard state indicators.
The Default and Presumptive Denial/2-Year Renewal Tracks require consideration of charter school data including, through 2025, “verified data,” if submitted. Verified data play a different role, depending on the Renewal Track (see CSDC Renewal Standards and Data Provisions (PDF)), and may be critical for many schools. For schools on the Presumptive Denial/2-Year Track, authorizers may not grant renewal without finding “clear and convincing evidence” based on “verified data” that the charter school is achieving strong postsecondary outcomes or measurable increases in academic achievement (one year’s progress for each year in school). If granted, such renewals are limited to two years.
In Default Track renewals, which include the vast majority of charter schools, the authorizer must consider the...
