Visiting Every Charter School

As we debate the merits of charter schools, many of us have not had the time to visit one.  Many others have visited exactly one.  Although I have visited several charter schools in recent years, I decided that it would be worthwhile to visit every charter school in Manhattan.  To be more precise, I hope to visit every charter school in Manhattan that took the New York State exams last year.  Eighteen schools are on my list.

I hope to learn things that you can't learn by reading their websites or reviewing their test scores.  So far I have visited five schools.  I have written about two schools (here and here) that really impressed me.

I also hope to visit many traditional public schools as well as some magnet schools, special education schools, and private schools. Of course, in all cases, the school has to let me visit.  In my experience, charter schools are generally happy to have visitors. 

All suggestions for what I should be looking for on my visits are encouraged!

Comments

[Deven Black]

Thank you for taking the time to visit all the charter schools in Manhattan. I would like to visit charter schools, too, but when they are open I'm usually teaching in the Bronx.

If i were able to visit charter schools I would look to see if they are teaching differently than my colleagues and I. I would look at their facilities and see how they compare with the facilities I've seen in the schools in which I've taught or had PD. I would look at their student populations and see if they are similar to the population I see in my special education classes or my school and the schools around mine. I would look at the level of parent involvement in governance, planning and other decision making and see if there's a difference in that regard. I'd also look at the amount of paperwork the teachers in those schools do, perhaps it is more than my burden, though that would be hard to imagine.

Yes, there's a lot I'd like to look at. Perhaps you could do it for me.