Receive, evaluate, and approve operator applications for general restart needs
Why Does This Matter?
- The prospects for a restart’s success depend largely on the quality of the operator.
- Identifying the unique aspects of restart in the application approval process will improve chances that the restart succeeds.
- Clear, published criteria for school approval ensure that all parties (parents, students, staff, and applicants) understand what is expected so they can participate in the process.
Profiles of Restart Authorization Practices
Massachusetts Preapproval of Restart Operators
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) plays an important role in recruiting and approving restart operators for the state’s lowest-performing schools and districts. DESE uses an open, competitive bidding process to maintain a list of vendors that are approved as high-quality providers of educational support services for low-performing schools, including school turnaround operators that lead school restarts. Districts can use this list when selecting restart operators for low-performing schools identified through the state accountability framework. In addition, DESE will use this list of providers when selecting restart operators to run the lowest-performing schools or districts that fall under state receivership. The Massachusetts DESE approach represents a unique collaboration between the SEA and LEAs, in which the local district makes restart school-operator matching decisions, and the SEA assists (and ultimately approves) the operator recruitment and approval process. Learn more here.
ASD Multi-Step Approval and Matching Process
The Tennessee Achievement School District uses a multistep operator approval and matching process to allow for early recruitment of restart operators and to ensure operators’ commitment to and capacity to meet the needs of eligible restart schools. Phase 1 involves evaluating prospective charter operators against quality criteria to approve them to open future schools. The ASD refers to the next phase as the school transformation process, in which pre-approved charter operators are matched to schools that will be closed and restarted. Learn more and see examples of ASD tools for applications and the match process here.
Suggested Resources
Training for Application Review Team Members
RFP Application Restart Provide
Massachusetts Request for Information (RFI) for Level 5 School Turnaround Receivers (Operators)
Camden RFP for Renaissance Schools
Renaissance Schools Operator RFP 2013
Multi-School Evaluation Approach