A charter school that beats City Honors

Schools in Los Angeles have strict consequences for truancy and tardiness but offer rewards and recognition for good attendance. Administrators use iPhones to record the ID numbers of tardy students, tracking them in order to engage the appropriate intervention.

Bangladesh schools had very low attendance because children were kept home to work and conditions were unsafe for girls, ethnic minorities, and those with disabilities. BRAC, one of the world's largest and most comprehensive NGOs, has built new schools addressing all the reasons, at home and school, that were preventing children from attending.

Across the country enrollment in online charter schools is disproportionately white, except in one state- Colorado. In Oregon, the opposite is true. This article compares what factors differentiate the state of Colorado versus the state of Oregon in terms of enrollment in charter schools along racial lines. Some differences include a larger diverse population in the state of Colorado, alternative schools that target at-risk students, and a larger team devoted to overseeing charter schools.

The Summit Learning Program is an online program that offers personalized lessons in science, social studies, math, and English language arts for students in grades four through 12. “Nearly 400 schools use it across 40 states.” The Hechinger Report spent a year exploring the platform in schools, while there are some drawbacks there’s also evidence it works. In some schools, student test scores jumped after using Summit.

The ecosystem of D.C. charter schools that has evolved over the last two decades represents a cornucopia of creative and nontraditional approaches to education, in addition to fairly traditional college-prep schools, and is now producing some of the highest graduation rates, college acceptance rates, and average test scores in public schools in the nation.

Tapestry graduates 93 percent of its students on time, and 80 percent of graduates go on to college in the fall. Its success derives from its autonomy as a charter school and from its idea of forming "crews" of students that act as in-school families.

What is the best use of a teacher’s precious face-to-face classroom time? It’s working one-on-one with students, not lecturing. To free up more time for the important stuff, some teachers are now recording videos of their lectures for students to watch at home.

Belmont Charter School offers a year-round program that includes camp-style activities, work-study programs, job training, and classroom learning in small groups during the summer. Teachers still receive several weeks off before summer programming starts, and students say the summer options help them build real-world skills and explore topics that aren’t always covered during the regular school year.

Middle school teachers in San Antonio, Texas, have resorted to home visits and "nudging," meaning they leave notices for parents at the door with information about consequences, at the first sign of students disengaging from classes or schoolwork. Two teachers go door-to-door to interact with students, and their parents or guardians, to find out why students are not logging on to their remote classes or completing their homework. They also help deliver groceries, or other essential supplies depending on the student's need. The approach has paid off and the teacher has averaged 99% attendance in class.

Mott Haven and Broome Street Academy serve students in the child welfare system and at-risk students. Before the pandemic, they were already preparing for crisis intervention. The two have provided students with services that fall outside of the educational spectrum, things like cash grants and weekly counseling. By doing so, they hope students can focus on classes. Now, they might be a model for other schools around the country.