State and Federal requirements to establish and maintain charter schools contain numerous requirements to plan to assess student achievement and report on outcomes. One of the six statutory purposes for charter schools from the Application to Create a Charter School in Minnesota and apply for a Federal Charter Schools Program Planning Grant is directly related to evaluation:

"Require the measurement of learning outcomes and create different and innovative forms of measuring outcomes.” *

Evaluation also plays another major role after a charter has been granted:

“I assure that the school will provide annually to the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Minnesota Department of Education such information as may be required to determine if the charter school is making satisfactory progress toward achieving the funded activities. This includes participation in any federal or state funded charter school evaluations or studies and compliance with all requests for information.
I assure that the school will cooperate with the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Minnesota Department of Education in evaluating the school’s program.”**

The Improve Group has proven experience providing educational planning, evaluation and reporting to charter schools, their sponsors and the Minnesota Department of education. We have worked directly with the charter school system where we supplied assistance that included:

• designing an evaluation plan and all measurement tools
• conducting an in-depth evaluation of a sample of charter schools
• evaluating data for all charter schools and comparing it to similar data for other public schools

We have also produced valid, compelling program reports that meet State and Federal requirements and can be used to start conversations with staff and Board members about school goals and accomplishments. If your organization is applying to form a new charter school or requesting on-going approval and you are interested in forming a relationship with an evaluator, please contact Susan Murphy at susanm@theimprovegroup.com to set up an appointment to discuss how the Improve Group can help.

For more information on the Minnesota Charter school system go to:
http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/School_Choice/Public_School_Choice/Charter_Schools/index.html

*Charter School Application Narrative, Pg. 7, Section III. A.
*Charter School Application, Appendix 4, Assurances Statement, Pg. 20, Program Evaluation section.