National Charter School Research Project
Charter Management Organizations (CMOs), Effectiveness, & Scale-Up
Featured Publications
The National Study of Charter Management Organization (CMO) Effectiveness: Report on Interim Findings
Robin Lake, Brianna Dusseault, Melissa Bowen, Allison Demeritt, Paul Hill
NCSRP continues to contribute to the knowledge base for expanding the number of high-quality charter schools.
In March 2008, NCSRP was selected in partnership with Mathematica Policy Research to lead a three-year National Study of Charter Management Organizations (CMOs), commissioned by NewSchools Venture Fund with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. (See the press release on the launch of the National Study of CMO Effectiveness.)
The study's interim report was released June 28, 2010; a final report will be published in June 2011.
The study seeks to provide valuable lessons for policymakers, funders, and educators on how CMO strategies influence schools’ organizational health and instructional coherence; how CMO districts could limit or enhance CMO effectiveness; and ultimately how CMOs influence schools and student achievement.
Specifically, it will examine four key questions:
- What are the effects of CMOs on student academic performance?
- Which CMO structures, models and practices affect school-level factors such as instructional coherence and organizational health?
- Which CMO structures, models and practices are associated with larger positive impacts on student academic performance?
- How do policy and community factors contribute to CMOs’ effectiveness, and how have CMOs affected districts and standalone charters?
Definition of CMO
- NCSRP defines CMOs as nonprofit organizations with unified management teams that have operational responsibility for delivering the educational program and supervising the school leaders for groups of charter schools. CMOs included in the study have been nonprofit from inception, had at least four schools operating by fall 2007, and serve a general population of students (rather than focusing exclusively on special populations such as dropouts or students with disabilities).
- The CRPE National CMO Database includes all known CMOs and affiliated schools as of 2008. It also contains school locations, founding years, and grade levels served.
- Hopes, Fears, & Reality 2007, Ch. 6: "Smart Charter School Caps: A Third Way on Charter School Growth"
- Hopes, Fears, & Reality 2005, Ch. 3: "Bringing Charters to Scale"
National CMO Database
Related Work
