Straight from the Students: Finding Supportive Communities in Public Charter Schools

Efforts to foster collaboration between district and charter schools—traditional rivals for scarce educational resources—are showing some promise, but challenges remain in forging effective partnerships, according to a new study released today by Mathematica Policy Research.

In 2009, through the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative, we invested in three school districts: Hillsborough County Public Schools, Florida; Memphis City Schools, Tennessee; and Pittsburgh Public Schools, Pennsylvania, and a group of charter management organizations (CMOs).

No two charter management organizations (CMOs) are the same—they vary in size, culture, and organizational structure.