Alice Opalka

Research Analyst

aopalka@uw.edu

CV:

Alice Opalka

Research:

Portfolio Strategy,

District-Charter Collaboration

Alice Opalka is a research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, where she works on projects related to portfolio strategy, cross-sector collaboration, system governance, and more. Before joining CRPE, Alice was an Education Pioneers Fellow in Los Angeles, an AmeriCorps volunteer coordinator at a children’s literacy organization in Los Angeles, and a college access mentor with College Access Now in Seattle. Alice holds a BA in Environmental Analysis from Scripps College, and an MPA from the University of Southern California.

04/2018

Lessons Learned About District-Charter Partnerships: How Sharing Instructional Practices Can Pave the Way for More Collaboration

An overview of the district-charter collaboration landscape and one strategy that many cities are pursuing: sharing instructional practices across...

01/2018

Collision Course: Embracing Politics to Succeed in District-Charter Collaboration

This report examines how politics shapes the work of district-charter collaboration and offers strategies for district and charter leaders to improve their chances of success.

01/2018

The Slowdown in Bay Area Charter School Growth: Causes and Solutions

This report examines why charter school growth in the San Francisco Bay Area has slowed dramatically and offers solutions for cities nationwide to encourage the development of new high-quality schools.

04/2017

The “City of Firsts” Charts a New Path on Turnaround

This case study profiles the unique school improvement effort in Springfield, MA, and compares it with other turnaround strategies.

01/2017

Bridging the District-Charter Divide to Help More Students Succeed

Based on six years of research, this report explores why a growing number of districts and charter schools are choosing to work together, the costs and benefits of different types of cooperation, and the real impacts of successful collaboration on students and...

‘It’s Not My Problem!’ Why Charter Schools and Districts Need to Work Together on the Politics of School Closure

Jul 13 2017

Robin Lake and Alice Opalka write on the importance of collaboration between school districts and charter schools in this piece for Education Next.

“It’s Not My Problem!” Why Charter Schools and Districts Need to Work Together on the Politics of School Closure

Jun 15 2017

Robin Lake and Alice Opalka discuss the importance of cross-sector cooperation when it comes to replacing low-performing schools.

This report examines how New Orleans education officials have managed the return of nearly all of the city’s public schools to the control of the local elected school board for the first time since the state takeover of public schools in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.