The Department has developed a second Charter Analysis and Review Tool CHART — MCAS , which has been primarily developed to provide school leaders with a transparent look at the comparative multi-year performance data used to determine whether a current charter school board of trustees qualifies for "Proven Provider" status pursuant to 603 CMR 1.04(4)(b). Other demographic data related to the proven provider status is already presented in CHART — Demographics, and schools can view financial trend data in the Financial Dashboard. As a reminder, charter school boards of trustees must be granted Proven Provider status by the Commissioner when requesting to increase the maximum enrollment of an existing Commonwealth charter school if the sending region includes district(s) that have performed in the lowest 10 percent statewide for two consecutive previous years on the MCAS and where the 9 percent net school spending cap has been, or would be exceeded. In particular, the Commissioner must consider whether proficiency levels and growth measures on the MCAS or equivalent assessments for all students and for one or more targeted subgroups as defined in M.G.L. c. 71, § 89(i)(3) are similar to statewide averages in English Language Arts and mathematics for all students in Massachusetts in comparable grades, over no less than a three-year period for cohorts of students. The new CHART tool provides the "statewide average in comparable grades" metric tailored to each charter school's particular grade span, which is not available on DESE's Profiles webpage.
Please note, the data as presented in this tool does not represent any substantive change in practice with respect to Proven Provider determinations. But we are now able to share the data in this format to allow all schools to examine their comparative performance as they consider potential expansion (or for other purposes). Additionally, the data as presented in this tool does not change how the Department currently considers student performance data for renewal/accountability purposes, which remains as outlined in Criterion 5 of the Charter School Performance Criteria.
Please note, due to the large size of the file, it may take some time to download and calculate when you select a school to review. We will continue to update and refine this tool as new data becomes available and feedback is received. If you have any questions or wish to provide feedback on this tool, please contact either Joanna Laghetto at Joanna.C.Laghetto@mass.gov or 781-338-3221 or James DiMaio at James.DiMaio2@mass.gov or 781-338-3228. If you have questions about Proven Provider status, please contact Alyssa Hopkins at Alyssa.K.Hopkins@mass.gov or 781-338-3219. Thank you.
Last Updated: June 24, 2015
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