Charter Authorizer Concerns During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This CACSA Update reflects on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for charter school authorizers. Everyone I’ve talked to lately has been working long hours. They describe the pressures with phrases like “fire hose” and “all hands on deck”. While many schools still need a lot of support with distance learning, this past week also included more discussions of medium- and long-term authorizer challenges.
CACSA has been convening two weekly video conference calls. Notes from this week’s calls about special education and general authorizing issues are attached. These discussions were designed for peer-to-peer sharing and problem solving. They focused on immediate concerns, like distributing technology and coordination between districts and charter schools on planning for distance learning. You will see many encouraging good stories of success in the notes, along with the challenges. For an inspiring list of school achievements, I also recommend the latest CSI newsletter.
This week we will consolidate our two weekly calls into one weekly CACSA call that will include both special education and general concerns. The regular Tuesday calls on special education are cancelled. Our weekly call going forward will be at 9:00 am on Thursdays, with the next one on April 16. We are also cancelling the May 1st quarterly authorizer meeting and working with CDE to plan virtual forums to replace these networking opportunities.
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and the Colorado Education initiative (CEI) are analyzing data from their state-wide survey of districts and school needs. The preliminary data reveal a large percentage of students and families that cannot access distance learning because of issues with computers or internet. At the school level, while there are many great stories of charters quickly turning to distance learning, there are also concerns that some schools are not doing as well. The gaps in student access and engagement, as well as differences in school capacity, are likely to become pressing issues in the coming weeks.
Increasingly, the long-term implications of the pandemic for charter schools and authorizing also require attention. These challenges will become even more problematic if schools are not operating normally in the fall. At this time, it seems to prudent to plan for the possibility that schools will not be back to normal by then. But even if we are back to normal by then, the pandemic’s effects will still challenge charter schools and authorizers.
At CACSA, we expect ongoing challenges with distance-learning to include:
Engaging more students and families, including through technology as well as non-technology strategies;
Serving students with disabilities and providing compensatory services later;
Documenting engagement and learning;
Supporting student and teacher well-being and mental health;
Grading, credit, graduation requirements, and higher-education coordination;
Thinking about in-person activities that may be possible later this spring or summer, including honoring graduates and providing a sense of closure on the year.
The pandemic will likely complicate authorizers’ regular oversight responsibilities such as:
Renewals and other accountability actions given the pause in testing and school accreditation;
Reviewing charter applications, including the implications of delaying work or acting remotely;
New schools trying to open, i.e., “Year Zero” schools that were scheduled to open in the fall of 2020, and are now deciding whether to delay given uncertain enrollment and shrinking budgets;
Financial pressures, including concerns about the viability of schools that were already on the margins as well as planning for all schools given impending cuts in state and local funding;
Remediation and interim assessments, including using new assessments to identify student needs while understanding the limits and opportunities of using additional data to evaluate schools and support school improvement; and
Rethinking charter school/district relationships, including ways that authorizers can support charter schools, celebrate their successes, and integrate them into district initiatives.
We look forward to working with authorizers and other friends on all these tasks in the coming months, even if we must do so through Zoom. In a couple weeks, we plan to begin a series of conference calls that will each focus on a particular challenge authorizers face during the pandemic, like Year Zero schools. Information on these topical calls will be forthcoming soon.
If you have any feedback on these issues, or others you wish to add to the list, please reach me directly at Alex.Medler@coauthorizers.org, or via phone at 720-635-8329.
Those on the special education distribution list should have received a cancellation notice for the Tuesday calls. As noted above, our next CACSA call will include both special education and general issues, and is on Thursday, April 16, at 9:00 am, MDT. Login information is below.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/367785315
Meeting ID: 367 785 315
Phone: 669-900-9128
One tap mobile: +16699009128,,367785315#