District-Charter Collaboration: A User’s Guide
Project
National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC)
Description
This paper is intended for use by district and charter representatives interested in establishing a new collaboration or in increasing the effectiveness of an existing collaboration. The paper presents our methodology, an overview of the nature of district-charter collaborations, and a framework based on lessons learned from leaders involved in various capacities over the last fifteen years of these efforts.
The framework focuses on six factors critical to enabling a successful collaboration:
❯ Identify the Motivations for a District-Charter Collaboration
❯ Identify and Articulate a Theory of Change
❯ Identify Desired Outcomes from the Start
❯ Create Conditions for Success
❯ Anticipate and Plan for Potential Challenges
❯ Go for a Quick Win Early to Energize the Collaboration
At the end of each section, we present a set of reflective questions we believe charter and district leaders should ask themselves to enable successful collaboration.
