Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Authorizers
Commission
Local Board of
Education
Issue a Request for Proposals for public charter school applicants (start-up).
Evaluate and review PCS charter applicants consistent with nationally recognized
principles and standards for quality authorizing.
$$$
Total Foundation Program Less Textbooks/Foundation Program Units
Enrollment Total, Where Previous Year = 0
Enrollment/Divisor = Units
Units * Per Unit $ =Total Allocation
Resident LEAs
Birmingam City
Midfield City
Hoover City
Jefferson County
Total
* Foundation Program ETF
**Residence LEA ADM
***PCS ADM
*Foundation
Program
ETF
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$$
***Public
Charter
School
ADM
PCS ADM
PCS ADM
PCS ADM
PCS ADM
PCS ADM
Total
$/ADM * PCS ADM
$/ADM * PCS ADM
$/ADM * PCS ADM
$/ADM * PCS ADM
$
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Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
B. SelfEvaluation &
Improvement
C. Defined
Relationships
In Practice
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
No conflicts of interest
(both in staffing and
funding) exist between
the authorizer and the
charter schools it
authorizers.
While decision making is
transparent to charter
schools and appears to be
based upon merit, the
process and criteria for
making decisions are not
fully transparent to the
public.
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Authorizer staff
regularly participates in
professional
development, internally
or externally provided,
and beyond what is
required by ALSDE.
PD is aligned with
authorizer functions and
takes into account
identified needs (as
determined by its selfimprovement process).
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
The
authorizer
follows
a
documented
systematic
application process.
The authorizers timeline allows for a preopening stage of least nine months so that
the application process is carried out with
quality and integrity. It aligns with the
school year and provides ample time to
adequately complete the application, plan,
and prepare for the schools opening.
The authorizers application guidance is
documented, detailed and readily available
to the public through the authorizers
website. (e.g., includes the procedure to
submit (word length, font size,
electronic/paper), includes references to
assist the applicant, etc.).
The application provides clear directions
on required content and format.
The authorizer documents and clearly
communicates to applicants the criteria it
uses to evaluate its applications.
Application clearly states the authorizers
chartering priorities.
The process includes interviewing final
applicants before adopting a contract.
B. Application
Depth
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Deep understanding of
essential
principles,
gained through
training and/or
several years
working in the
field and
mastering the
principles.
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
No defined selection
criteria or protocols are
used to evaluate
applications.
Review team members
simply review the written
application and only ask
clarifying questions.
Reviewers receive
no training.
No process is followed to
ensure that all internal
and external reviewers do
not have a conflict of
interest with the
applicants they are
reviewing.
Effective
Exemplary
H. Rigorous
Decision
Making
Rigorous
decisions are
based upon a
thorough
analysis of a
comprehensive
body of
objective
evidence.
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Almost all
applicants that
apply are
approved,
regardless of the
strength of the
application.
Preliminary
agreements are
made with
schools that
had previously
closed and/or
were nonrenewed by
their previous
authorizer.
Effective
Exemplary
Performance Contracting
Poor or Underdeveloped
A.
Contract
Student
Performa
nce
Measures
Vague measures of
student performance,
such as local report card
ratings or statewide
assessments.
No specific metrics
and targets for schoolwide performance
(e.g., 80% proficiency
in 3rd grade reading
and math OAA)
Ineffective
Effective
o
o
Exemplary
Performance Contracting
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
B. Contract
Terms for
High-Stakes
and Ongoing
Reviews
Contract renewal is
essentially automatic and
contract language may
specify automatic renewal
as the default.
A
performance
review upon
which
renewal
decisions are
made.
C. Contract
Terms for
Renewal and
Non-renewal
Performance Contracting
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
D. Contract
terms for
Amendments
and Updates
All/most
authorizers
have boilerplate language
noting that
amendments
may be made
to all
contracts.
A. System of
Oversight &
Evaluation
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
B.
Transparency
of Process
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
C. Enrollment
& Financial
Reviews
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
D. Financial
Audit Followup
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
E. Site Visit
Protocols &
Training
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
H.
Communication with the
Charter School
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
There is no follow-up.
areas needing
improvement.
The authorizers
communication with the
schools governing authority is
limited, vague and/or
inconsistent.
The authorizer is
inappropriately overly
involved in the schools
operations, directing it or
making decisions on the
governing authoritys behalf.
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
The authorizer is
inappropriately slightly
involved in the day-to-day
operational decisions of the
schools it authorizers.
The authorizer is
inappropriately overly involved
in the day-to-day operational
decisions of the schools it
authorizers and/or operates
more as a program of the
authorizer.
Regardless of demonstrated
success, all schools have
limited or no autonomy over
decision-making.
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
K. Oversight &
Evaluation
Report to
Schools
L. Annual
Report to the
Public
A. Contract
Termination
Termination
occurs when
the authorizer
chooses to
close a charter
school prior to
the expiration
date/term of
the charter
school
contract.
Non-renewal of
a contract
occurs at the
end of a charter
schools
contract term.
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
B. Evidence
Based
Renewal
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
C. Renewal
and NonRenewal
Decisions
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
achieve
their
contractual
academic standards and targets;
and
D.
Cumulative
Report on
Performance
Note: Provided
each year to
the schools
governing
authority, the
cumulative
report builds a
record of the
schools
performance
over the charter
term.
The cumulative
report is used
as part of the
evidence based
renewal
decisions
described in
Indicator B.
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
E.
Transparent
Renewal
Application
Process
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
F. Prompt
Notification
and
Explanation
of Reasons
for the
Renewal
Decision
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
G. Closure
Process
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
The authorizer is
unaware of its obligation
to oversee school closure.
In the event of a school
closure, the authorizer has
no formal policy or
procedure for schools to
follow. The closing school
might default to the
ALSDE guidance.
A. Ongoing
Technical
Assistance to
Schools
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
Note: the
provision of
technical
assistance does
not mean that
the authorizer
does work for
the school; the
authorizer
provides
guidance,
including
information
about
resources; but
the authorizer
does not do the
work.
Technical assistance, if
provided to schools, is
reactive to problems that
arise.
The authorizer does not
assess the technical
assistance needs of the
schools it authorizes.
B. Ongoing
Updates of
Legal and
Policy Changes
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
C. Ongoing
Professional
Development
(PD) for
Schools
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary
D. Effective
Working
Relationships
with Schools
Governing
Authorities
Poor or Underdeveloped
Ineffective
Effective
Exemplary