Compact toolkit: working draft

1. Compact toolkit: working draft Working draft December 22, 2010 CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY Any use of this material without specific permission of McKinsey & Company is strictly prohibited

2. “The goal of the compact initiative is to improve collaboration and innovation between charter and districts schools to provide all students in a city with a portfolio of highly effective education options, accelerating 80 percent college readiness in the city.” -- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

3. Purpose • Provide background on the Compact, guidance on the process, and ready to use “tools” for cities that are considering engaging as “Round 2” Compact cities • Leverage the experiences and tools used by cities that completed a district-charter Compact in December 2010 • How cities should use the toolkit • View this document as a “toolkit” with potentially helpful guidance—these are not templates or required approaches • Utilize and customize the tools and exercises that are most relevant to your city’s Compact and context Purpose of this toolkit

4. Table of contents Sections What’s included Page 1 Overview of the compact initiative • Compact overview • Context, rationale, and objectives 4 What makes a good compact • Criteria and example collaboration ideas 13 2 Development I: involving and engaging the right participants • Designating compact leads • Deciding who to engage in the process • Sample approaches for engaging the charter community 20 3 4 Development II: developing a meaningful compact • Developing an approach to content development • Templates and tools 26 5 • Development III: work planning 43 • What should be included in a work plan • Sample work plans 6 • Mitigating risk 47 • Planning ahead for risk 7 Ensuring follow-through • Planning ahead for implementation • Accountability process overview 49 8 Appendix • Catalogue of collaboration ideas 51

5. The compact initiative evolved from a desire by cities to accelerate district-charter collaboration Origin The idea for the compact initiative originated at a gathering of superintendents and charter leaders in February 2010. The group recognized the need to improve collaboration and innovation between charter and district schools in order to provide all students in their cities with a portfolio of highly effective education options. • Goals • The group asked for Gates Foundation support in fundamentally shifting the district-charter dynamic in their cities. They asked for help with individual city efforts to • Transform the systems and incentive structures that foster unhealthy competition between districts and charter schools in each city • Tackle the most intractable challenges to collaboration, including access to facilities, equity in funding, and serving special needs students • The initiative • As a first step in driving long-term change, the group asked for • Support for cities willing to make specific commitments to take district-charter collaboration to a deeper level • Structures for holding cities accountable for those commitments • Strong examples of collaboration for other cities across the country

6. The compact initiative – what is it? Objective • Generate high-potential collaboration ideas to address pressing challenges, including resource sharing: • Access to facilities • Equitable funding • Serving special education, ELL, and high need students • Support leaders who are committedto the hard task of affecting change • Refine charters’ role in the solution: charters have as much to offer to collaboration efforts as districts Support provided • A draft compact with language for general commitments to provide a starting place for each district’s compact • A national convening of participating cities to discuss common challenges and share best practices • A national compact launch press event including all cities with signed compacts • A small grant to participating cities to support compact commitments Expectations of participants • Develop acompact supported and signed by both district and charter leaders • Share learnings and collaboration ideas with other participating cities • Take responsibility for following through on city-specific commitments (the Center on Reinventing Public Education will track cities’ progress, developing measures of success and reporting progress)

7. Cities participating in the compact initiative are • Committedto being national leaders in tackling the most intractable roadblocks to district-charter collaboration • Committed to pushing district-charter collaboration to a deeper level within the city • Willing to take on the risk of political repercussions and local resistance to change • Asking to be held accountable for following through on city-specific collaboration commitments The compact initiative – who should participate?

8. “Video surfaced last week of City Council woman Gale Brewer saying she'd "strangle" families that chose to leave a local public school for a publiccharterschool …local elected officials around the nation regularly take equally anti-school-reform stances.” 1 -- Kevin Chavous (chairman, Black Alliance for Educational Opportunity), Howard Fuller (former Milwaukee superintendent ) "Charter movement people have gotten a little skeptical about the big urge to cooperate more with districts and to share what we do with districts…I think the best quote I’ve ever heard about this is attributed to Yvonne Chan, the founder of the first conversion charter school in California, the Vaughn 21st-Century School, and she said, “I’m always asked, ‘When are we going to see ripples from your innovation?’” and she said, “‘You can’t see ripples if the lake is frozen.” -- Nelson Smith, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools The prevailing district-charter dynamic is often characterized by mistrust and missed opportunities The relationship between school districts and charter schools varies city to city, but in many cases is characterized by competition for resources and a “zero-sum” mindset: rather than competing to outdo each other in providing excellent educational opportunities, schools are struggling to control ideas, funding, or facilities. 1 Howard Fuller and Kevin Chavous, “’Strangling’ NYC Kids’ Futures”, New York Post, 10/27/10; Nelson Smith, Charter Schools Chief Advocate, District Administration, 9/2009 SOURCE: Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools, New York Post

9. Political risk • With entrenched vocal advocates on either side of the dynamic, it can be challenging to find common ground, particularly for elected and public officials • Competing stakeholder interests • Improvement often requires that trade-offs be made (and balanced) among a number of stakeholders increasing the challenge of capturing the necessary of buy-in breadth • Union opposition • With multiple issues and negotiations often being addressed in parallel, it can be difficult to create buy-in on specific district-charter collaboration • The need for legislative change • Many desired changes are outside of the control of local leaders and require significant effort • Tension and lack of trust • Skepticism and low confidence on both sides based on a history of “bad blood” can undermine even promising collaborations Moreover, recent history demonstrates that this dynamic is difficult to change Barriers to increased collaboration

10. Charters are an increasingly important part of public education in cities across the country Enrollment in charter schools in the U.S. Student enrollment in Cohort 1 cities Traditional Charter Total New Orleans 39% 61% 36,816 Minneapolis 78% 22% 44,403 +45% Baltimore 90% 10% 82,866 Los Angeles 90% 10% 678,277 Denver 90% 10% 77,255 Rochester 93% 7% 36,389 Hartford 96% 4% 22,018 1999 2005 2009 New York 97% 3% 999,315 % of all public schools 0.6% 3.5% 4.9% Nashville 98% 2% 80,080 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education Common Core of Data (National Center for Education Statistics); NAPCS

11. Examples of collaboration from across the country • A joint district-charter initiative created a template for how teachers can develop and refine detailed year-long plans. The templates, and other materials are now available more broadly. –Washington D.C. • 2 charter and 1 district middle school share a common enrollment zone, and every student living within the zone is guaranteed a spot at one of the schools. –Denver • A campus with a co-located district and charter school are piloting an active collaboration partnership. Students share lunch and recess and joint staff meetings will be held throughout the year. –Los Angeles “But both supporters and skeptics... agree that so far the [district-charter] cooperative efforts are not widespread nor are most of them very deep” Education Week November 18, 2010 SOURCE: Promising Educational Practices, Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools Education Week, “Regular Public Schools Start to Mimic Charters”, Nov. 8, 2010

12. Why participate? What Cohort 1 cities said Putting a balanced set of commitments on a single compact was a huge part of what allowed us to get Board approval on issues that all had been dealt with independently before. Together, these ideas will have a huge impact on all of our kids. –Charter Leader The compact initiative was useful because… • The public nature of the compact and process helped build trust and accountability • The opportunity to be a national leader in a high-profile initiative motivated participants to push for bolder changes • It provided a way to get buy-in on issues typically dealt with independently • It opened up new areas of collaboration with and among the charter community • It allowed us to articulate a unified call for change Being able to codify and expand collaboration that is already happening is important, particularly in light of leadership transitions. Now we can build on what we have and pursue the even bolder ideas we have in the Compact. –District Leader

13. Table of contents Sections What’s included Page 1 Overview of the compact initiative • Compact overview • Context, rationale, and objectives 4 What makes a good compact • Criteria and example collaboration ideas 13 2 Development I: involving and engaging the right participants • Designating compact leads • Deciding who to engage in the process • Sample approaches for engaging the charter community 20 3 4 Development II: developing a meaningful compact • Developing an approach to content development • Templates and tools 26 5 • Development III: work planning 43 • What should be included in a work plan • Sample work plans 6 • Mitigating risk 47 • Planning ahead for risk 7 Ensuring follow-through • Planning ahead for implementation • Accountability process overview 49 8 Appendix • Catalogue of collaboration ideas 51

14. A good compact articulates a shared district-charter vision and outlines a set of detailed commitments that will help achieve it An articulation of the joint commitment to ensure that all children have access to high-quality public schools Vision for the future Specific commitments on how the vision will be achieved A set of broad commitments common to all compact cities A set of city-specific commitments to collaboration

15. An example of how one city articulated its vision in the compact • We, the undersigned, believe that • High performing schools rely on, cultivate, develop, and support highly effective school leaders and teaching professionals • High performing schools are student-centered, pursuing innovation and actively sharing demonstrated best practices to support their dissemination and implementation at scale • High performing schools empower parents by offering meaningful choices for students and developing creative ways to engage families in the design and success of their school. • High performing schools collaborate as partners in the county-wide effort to provide an excellent education for all students and, as partners, work to share best practices between classrooms, schools, and leaders • Therefore, collaboratively undertaking to build a system of high performing public schools throughout the county, we, the undersigned, pledge the following on behalf of the present and future students of Nashville-Davidson County… • -- Nashville-Davidson County Collaboration Compact

16. Compacts include a set of general commitments that all cities are expected to incorporate, in addition to city-specific commitments Commitments common to all cities include: Joint commitments • Embrace responsibility for ensuring that all students graduate from high school ready for college, work, and life • Support high-performing schools, immediately address low-performing schools • Foster a cooperative and collaborative relationship between district and charter schools 2 sets of commitments Broad commitments common to all compact cities 1 District commitments • Make district economies of scale available to charter schools • Advocate for equitable per-pupil funding • Promote replicationof most promising school models • Protect autonomy of charter schools • Actively share best practices with all charter schools City-specific commitments 2 Charter commitments • Serve all students in the city equitably in all schools, including special needs, ELL, and high-risk populations • Ensure transparency regarding student mobility and achievement • Work with districts to locate schools in high-need areas • Actively share best practices with district

17. Bold Specific and actionable City-specific commitments should be bold, specific, and actionable Criteria Key question Description • Has the potential to significantly improve student outcomes and access to a portfolio of high quality education options. It also addressed the most pressing issues in our city • Will it make a significant difference to students outcomes? • Does it clearly describe an action to be taken and what we are accountable for? • Action to be taken can be clearly understood by all stakeholders and constituents • Actions have are separated into district, charter and joint commitments • Next steps and measures of success are explicitly stated or easily understood in order to ensure appropriate follow-through

18. Example compact commitments II • “Common approach to... admission lotteries... including common forms and... parent information system... track outcomes of students winning and losing... and follow-up on lessons learned... ” –Hartford • “Serve all students; measured by % of special education enrolled – consider creation of specialized schools / schools within a school to serve targeted high-need populations” –New Orleans Equity and Access • “Develop and implement an equitable and transparent process for facilities assignment that considers parent demand, and school performance, as well as building quality where possible.” –Denver • “Continuing to co-locate and locate charter schools in underutilized district buildings and where a charter school would provide a high-quality option for parents” –New York Facilities

19. Example compact commitments II • “[Create a] workgroup to develop criteria and definitions for ‘non-performing’ schools and use that information for authorization, renewal, and closure decisions” –Baltimore • “Establish a common high performing school indicator that provides a clear, credible, and intelligible measure, includes multiple variables, weights student growth highly... used to improve communication and parent-friendly information regarding all public schools” –Nashville School-level accountability • “Ensure equitable access to Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRANS) in a manner that is cost neutral to the district.” –Los Angeles • “Offer expanded access on an opt-in basis to services such as food service, transportation, and procurement.” –Rochester • “Commit to ensuring equitable resources for charter schools… includ[ing] ... per pupil revenue, ... an equitable share of... Title funds,... bond funds, ... and materials purchased with federal funds, and grants... ” –Denver Resources (non-facilities)

20. Table of contents Sections What’s included Page 1 Overview of the compact initiative • Compact overview • Context, rationale, and objectives 4 What makes a good compact • Criteria and example collaboration ideas 13 2 Development I: involving and engaging the right participants • Designating compact leads • Deciding who to engage in the process • Sample approaches for engaging the charter community 20 3 4 Development II: developing a meaningful compact • Developing an approach to content development • Templates and tools 26 5 • Development III: work planning 43 • What should be included in a work plan • Sample work plans 6 • Mitigating risk 47 • Planning ahead for risk 7 Ensuring follow-through • Planning ahead for implementation • Accountability process overview 49 8 Appendix • Catalogue of collaboration ideas 51

21. Designate a district “lead” and a charter “lead” • Decide who to involve • Develop an approach to engaging the charter community • Decide on the right roles for participants and stakeholders Approach to involving and engaging the right participants

22. Designate a district “lead” and a charter “lead” District lead: main responsibilities Charter lead: main responsibilities • Be co-accountable for compact effort deliverables and timeline • Build district buy-in on the compact and ensure that the organization supports the final agreement • Represent the district’s voice in workshops and meetings with charters • Co-lead district-charter workshops • Drive agenda, content, and outcomes of workshops • Take responsibility for communication with city stakeholders as appropriate • Be co-accountable for compact effort deliverables and timeline • Coordinate communication with charter community • Build buy-in from key charter stakeholders and ensure that the charter community supports the final agreement • Represent the charter community’s voice in workshops and meetings with the district • Co-lead district-charter workshops • Drive agenda, content, and outcomes of workshops • Take responsibility for communication with external stakeholders as appropriate

23. Decide who to involve Who to engage Examples District • Senior leadership key to organization-wide support • Superintendent, local school board • Personnel who will lead follow-through on compact commitments • Executive Director of Innovation and Charter Schools, Chief of Facilities • Relevant subject-matter experts • Project lead on special teacher effectiveness initiative Charter • Representation from the charter community • Representatives from CMOs, stand-alone schools, conversion schools • Leaders of existing charter organizations • President of state charter association • Relevant subject-matter experts • Representatives from charter advocacy organizations / foundations Additional stakeholders • Other players who could help develop or carry out charter commitments • Union president, Mayor, local foundations, local education organizations

24. Options for engaging charter leaders Options for managing communication and input OR OR Develop an approach to engaging the charter community Invite everyone to the table Example: Rochester, NY has only seven charter schools; when the district lead convened the first compact meeting, she invited the head of each charter school or charter network. Leverage existing communication channels Example: In Los Angeles, a charter convening organization holds monthly meetings of charter school representatives and sends out weekly emails. Updates on the compact process were shared both at meetings and through the weekly emails. Select charter representatives Example: New Orleans has a large and highly organized charter community. Two representatives from the charter community volunteered to draft the first compact with the district lead. Create new communication channels Example: In Memphis, charter schools had no tradition of group meetings or formal communication. The first step in the compact process for the charter lead was to call a meeting of all charter schools to discuss common goals.

25. Decide on the right roles for participants and stakeholders: example Working meeting participant Content development Feedback on draft compact Letter of support Role in implementation Stakeholder Signatory ü ü ü ü District “lead” ü ü ü ü ü Charter “lead” ü ü ü ü Superintendent ü ü District facilities head ü ü ü ü CEOs of large CMOs ü ü ü ü ü Principals of stand-alone charters ü ü President of state charter association ü ü Template to be completed by city Mayor ü ü ü President of local teachers union ü ü Local foundation

26. Table of contents Sections What’s included Page Page 1 Overview of the compact initiative • Compact overview • Context, rationale, and objectives 4 What makes a good compact • Criteria and example collaboration ideas 13 2 Development I: involving and engaging the right participants • Designating compact leads • Deciding who to engage in the process • Sample approaches for engaging the charter community 20 3 4 Development II: developing a meaningful compact • Developing an approach to content development • Templates and tools 26 5 • Development III: work planning 43 • What should be included in a work plan • Sample work plans 6 • Mitigating risk 47 • Planning ahead for risk 7 Ensuring follow-through • Planning ahead for implementation • Accountability process overview 49 8 Appendix • Catalogue of collaboration ideas 51

27. Generating collaboration ideas Prioritizing the right ideas Developing the right level of detail Developing the right content Potential approach • Decide on a set of goals that the compact will help you to achieve • Catalogue examples of existing collaboration • Consider examples of collaboration from other cities • Brainstorm new ideas for collaboration • Consider the feasibility and the potential for impact of each idea • Decide which ideas should be a priority: what mix of impact and feasibility makes sense for your city? • Develop each priority idea into a commitment to a specific initiative • Consider examples of collaboration from other cities for ideas on how to make commitments bolder and more specific • Solicit feedback on commitments from local and national content area experts

28. Customizing the content development process: New Orleans example • Approach: 2-person working group writes early draft compact, then solicits input from broader community • 1 district and 1 charter representative (a deputy superintendent and a representative from New Schools for New Orleans) held an early discussion on priority ideas and created a draft compact to refine with other participants • Draft compact circulated to charters via email for feedback • Compact revised based on feedback, and circulated back to charters to solicit support • Why the approach made sense for New Orleans • History of significant collaboration between district and charters, in a city that is ~70% charter school • Strong understanding of and alignment on the priority issues to address in compact • High levels of trust in “working team” and district-charter accountability • Highly organized charter community with existing communication channels

29. Customizing the content development process: Los Angeles example • Approach: A working group follows a methodical process of formal workshops and exercises before drafting a compact to share more broadly • Third party interviews district and charter leaders to capture ideas, set expectations, and address initial skepticism • 11-person workshop: District and charter leads make prepared remarks to “set a new tone” for the relationship; participants brainstorm and prioritize list of collaboration ideas • District and charter leads create first draft compact • Joint district-charter working teams develop priority ideas in more detail (e.g., actions, impact, next steps) • 18-person workshop: Expanded working group discusses and refines priority ideas; external stakeholders participate in meeting • District and charter lead create revise draft compact and share with broader stakeholders for input before soliciting final signatures • Why the approach made sense for Los Angeles • History of hostility and mistrust between district and charters • Significant, but limited, examples of existing district-charter collaboration • Large charter community including several major CMOs • Charter community highly organized through state charter association; compact leads could leverage association's existing channels of communication with charters • High level of buy-in and alignment on content/language in order to advocate for board approval

30. Soliciting feedback from experts The value of outside expert feedback Relevant context to provide to experts Example areas for feedback • Many cities found it useful to engage a third party expert to review the compact and push on areas where the compact could become more impactful • The best expert feedback sessions were proactively driven by the city to ensure that the experts understood the unique context and areas of inquiry for the city • History of district-charter dynamics • District governance model • Size and history of the charter community (and how they are organized) • Compact participants (and who drafted the document) • Level of buy-in to date • Next steps for the compact and implementation • Specific barriers and challenges • Is the compact bold enough to make a meaningful impact? • What would make our commitments most specific and actionable? • Are the commitments and benefits appropriately balanced? • Are there key topic areas missing? • How should we approach gaining additional buy-in (e.g. from charters, school board, stakeholders)? • Are we taking on more than we can feasibly implement?

31. Tools and resources for content development (1/3) Description When it might be useful Tool/resource a Idea brainstorming exercise • Group/workshop exercise to build a list (or build on an existing list) of collaboration ideas • To efficiently generate ideas and capture input from a group of people • As an early exercise to help build cooperation/trust among district and charter participants Generating collaboration ideas b Lists of existing collaborations • Example collaborative practices drawn from cities across the country • Collection of promising cooperative practices from the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools • To seed initial discussions and idea generation exercises • To provide sample ideas and language for what specific commitments might look like

32. Tools and resources for content development (2/3) Description When it might be useful Tool/resource c Prioritization exercise • Group/workshop exercise to quickly and visually capture aligned/differing perspectives on priorities • To create a basis for a more prioritization discussion • To provide group transparency of where there is already alignment and where there are differences of opinion • To start a conversation about the criteria for prioritization Prioritizing the right ideas d Impact / feasibility estimate tool • Individual voting template for rating ideas based on feasibility and impact • A chart showing how to interpret results from the rating exercise • A summary reporting format • To help prioritize ideas based on explicit criteria • After aligning on definitions for “impact” and “feasibility” • Capture additional transparency of differences in perspective along the two dimensions and across participants

33. Tools and resources for content development (3/3) Description When it might be useful Tool/resource e Idea development team worksheet • A template for keeping track of teams responsible for further idea development • To record the specific people assigned to further develop each idea, and share role assignment with the group Developing the right level of detail f Idea development template • A template to guide deeper discussion of each idea and surface areas for further discussion • As a tool to report out on small-group discussions of the ideas to be included in the compact

34. a Idea generation: brainstorming exercise SAMPLE TOOL • Preparation: • Compile a list of ideas that could be included in the compact (through interviews, informal conversations, or brainstorming by district and charter leads) • Categorize ideas, and write ideas in each category on a flip chart (or print on posters); and post around a room • Gather red markers, blue post-its and yellow post-its • Idea list • Idea 1 • Idea 2 • Additional idea Exercise: • Participants spend 30-45 minutes circulating throughout the room • Ensure that there are at least 1 district and charter person at each poster • Signal time to “rotate” to another set of ideas every 5-10 minutes • At each poster participants add to and refine ideas: • Add new ideas in the given categories using the red markers provided • Suggest refinements with blue Post-It Notes • Ask questions related to the ideas using yellow Post-It Notes • After each poster has been visited, an individual at each will review and share ideas with full group Refinements Questions

35. b Idea generation: list of collaboration ideas SAMPLE TOOL Examples of district-charter collaboration Collection of promising cooperative practices • List of implemented and in-process district-charter collaboration ideas from across the country • Ideas grouped by category (e.g., facilities, human capital) • Ideas characterized by degree of collaboration (e.g., minimal, moderate, deep) • Captured from existing research and interviews with district and charter leaders “The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools conducted a nationwide search to find the most promising and innovative cooperative practices between charter and traditional public schools. We sought cooperative practices with strong collaboration, originality, inventiveness and the ability to replicate.” Detailed list: See appendix of this document Link to website: http://www.oapcs.org/event-calendar/national-conference/call-for-practices

36. Idea list • Idea 1 • Idea 2 • Additional idea c Prioritizing ideas: prioritization exercise SAMPLE TOOL • Preparation: • Write the complete list of collaboration ideas brainstormed to date on flip charts, and post them on the wall • Provide each participant with five green stickers 1. Ask each participant to post 5 green stickers on flip charts to indicate which ideas he/she is most excited about exploring further • Each person should use all five stickers on five different ideas • Ask participants to choose ideas that excite them, even if they may be hard to implement 2. Identify the 5-10 ideas with greatest momentum (most green stickers) 3.Ask each participant to individually rank each of the high-momentum ideas • Each participant rates each idea should be separately on “impact” and “feasibility”: • Impact: Has the potential to measurably benefit students in the city (in terms of access or effectiveness of their education options) • Feasibility: Meaningful changes can be made within 6 months of signing the compact 4. Aggregate participants’ rankings to use as a basis for further discussion • This can be done during a break from the working session, or in preparation for later meetings / discussions

37. Prioritizing ideas: participant worksheet d SAMPLE TOOL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

38. d Prioritizing: summary scatter plot of all ideas SAMPLE TOOL 1 Idea 1 Average assessment per idea 2 Idea 2 High 3 Idea 3 3 4 5 10 4 Idea 4 9 5 Idea 5 7 6 Idea 6 8 11 6 1 12 Impact Medium 7 Idea 7 2 8 Idea 8 9 Idea 9 10 Idea 10 Low 11 Idea 11 Low Medium High 12 Idea 12 Feasibility

39. 3 Prioritizing: Evaluation of feasibility/impact estimates d SAMPLE TOOL For discussion Pursue Pursue High Do not pursue For discussion Pursue Impact Medium Do not pursue Do not pursue For discussion Low Low Medium High Feasibility

40. e Developing the right detail: planning chart SAMPLE TOOL Idea team is responsible for next steps in developing the idea content for the compact Some cities found it easier to translate this page into a simple excel spreadsheet

41. f Idea development: idea template (1/2) SAMPLE TOOL Idea #9 • Develop and implement a shared principal training pipeline to recruit , train and support a new generation of principals that are prepared to • lead new and existing schools successfully in order to effectively eliminate the achievement gap. Benefit to students (how to measure and target impact) Students would benefit by having school principals that are trained in turning around failing schools, an/or providing opportunities to students via the development of new schools with proven academic and operational models. Considerations for Charters Considerations for district Potential benefits Potential actions Potential challenges Potential benefits Potential actions Potential challenges

42. f Idea development: idea template (2/2) SAMPLE TOOL Idea #9 (continued) Potential risks Key Success Factors Next Steps (including content development and implementation) • Activity • Responsibility • Timing

43. Table of contents Sections What’s included Page 1 Overview of the compact initiative • Compact overview • Context, rationale, and objectives 4 What makes a good compact • Criteria and example collaboration ideas 13 2 Development I: involving and engaging the right participants • Designating compact leads • Deciding who to engage in the process • Sample approaches for engaging the charter community 20 3 4 Development II: developing a meaningful compact • Developing an approach to content development • Templates and tools 26 5 • Development III: work planning 43 • What should be included in a work plan • Sample work plans 6 • Mitigating risk 47 • Planning ahead for risk 7 Ensuring follow-through • Planning ahead for implementation • Accountability process overview 49 8 Appendix • Catalogue of collaboration ideas 51

44. What to include in your work plan Example Description Guidance Content development phases • Make explicit when each phase of the content development process will occur • Customize phases and timing to city context Workshop/ meeting schedule • Dates for district-charter workshops/ meetings • Put on calendar to create urgency and “deadlines” • Decide on meeting objectives and participants upfront • Work charter-specific convenings and/or communications into the plan • Leverage existing meetings and communications where possible • Create timing that complements the overall work plan Charter convenings/ communication Compact draft deadlines • Deadlines for different iterations of the compact (e.g., first, final draft) • Most cities had the same 1-2 people creating and revising drafts throughout the process • Timing for securing buy-in and ultimately, signatures/letters of support • Typically 2-4 weeks to finalize buy-in at the end of the process • Helpful to build into the entire process as well Securing buy-in

45. Example work plan from cohort 1 city EXAMPLE #1 Activities Deliverables Pre-work Sep 1-Oct 6 • Interviews of several key participants/stakeholders • Communicate the compact process and approach • Initial list of potential ideas for compact • Initial list of incoming hopes and concerns • Draft timeline and approach Workshop 1 Oct 7 • Develop a comprehensive list of collaboration ideas • Prioritize ideas to develop in further detail • Identify next steps and owners • Prioritized set of collaborative ideas to pursue further • Next steps and owners for each Interim work Oct 9-Nov 4 • Further develop priority ideas including • Working through details and challenges • Engaging subject matter experts • Identifying goals and progress measures • Create first draft of compact document • Further developed priority ideas for discussion at Workshop 2 Workshop 2 Nov 5 • Review, discuss, and refine proposed Compact collaboration ideas • Identify any additional ideas for potential inclusion • Identify other local supporters and assign owners to pursue • Agree upon process for compact finalization • Agreed-upon in-depth ideas for collaboration (including key elements, metrics, etc.) for which language can be developed • Plan for engaging other supporters • Agreed-upon process for compact finalization • Circulate drafts • Finalize language • Specific compact language around proposed areas of collaboration • Collaboration metrics of success identified Finalize compact draft Nov 6-19 Compact signingNov 15-Dec 2 • Sign final Compact • Gather letters of support from other local supporters • (partial overlap with finalization of compact draft) • Signed Compact, Letters of Support, and next steps for collaboration • Board approval

46. Example work plan from cohort 1 city EXAMPLE #2 Pre-Aug 13 • Communicate the compact and build initial buy-in for city participation Nov 17-19 • Compact draft revised and redistributed for input Aug 13 • Hold meeting with charter, district, and stakeholder (and union) leaders to align on compact participation and sign the “Broad commitments common to all compact cities” [see page 15] Nov 22 • Conference call to review revised draft and agree on changes/next steps Nov 23-30 • Thanksgiving • Compact draft revised and redistributed for input • Individual meetings with participants to review latest draft and secure support Aug 14- Nov 1 • Hold individual meetings and calls with key stakeholders to develop city-specific ideas Nov 1-5 • District and charter “leads” jointly create first draft of compact • Distribute draft to compact participants to review and capture input Dec 1 • Conference call to finalize draft and agree on changes/next steps • Final changes/updates made Nov 8-12 • Participants review draft compact and capture input (e.g., questions, elements believed to be most important, elements missing, concerns,) Dec 2 • Collect final signatures Dec 3 • Hold meeting with union leader to review draft compact and secure letter of support • Finalize compact Nov 16 • Hold workshop to review and discuss draft compact, agree on changes, and align on path forward Note: This city had a small number of charters, allowing all to more easily and manageably participate in every meeting/call. This also allowed the city incorporate the buy-in process along the way, and have a quick turnaround at process conclusion

47. Table of contents Sections What’s included Page 1 Overview of the compact initiative • Compact overview • Context, rationale, and objectives 4 What makes a good compact • Criteria and example collaboration ideas 13 2 Development I: involving and engaging the right participants • Designating compact leads • Deciding who to engage in the process • Sample approaches for engaging the charter community 20 3 4 Development II: developing a meaningful compact • Developing an approach to content development • Templates and tools 26 5 • Development III: work planning 43 • What should be included in a work plan • Sample work plans 6 • Mitigating risk 47 • Planning ahead for risk 7 Ensuring follow-through • Planning ahead for implementation • Accountability process overview 49 8 Appendix • Catalogue of collaboration ideas 51

48. Bureaucracy and political delays Union engagement Lack of alignment within charter community Need for board approval Mitigating risks Potential risk Potential mitigation strategies • Ensure that the right leaders are “at the table” during the process to help facilitate the political process (e.g., Mayor’s staff, senior leadership in the district) • Make honest assessment of longer timing and process steps required, and build into the process (some cities built in over 4 weeks just for buy-in process/bureaucracy) • Discuss and incorporate known overlaps with union input/priorities • Be deliberate about when and how to engage. Some cities decided to engage the union at compact process kick-off, others felt it better to engage after creating fuller alignment among stakeholders • Secure a meaningful number/representation of charters to move forward with the compact, while ensuring that all parties are heard and included in the discussion • Create opportunities for those that are not fully aligned to continue to participate in the process if not signing (this should be an ongoing discussion and living document) • Develop compact content and process with an eye toward a “board-ready” compact (e.g., language, content) • Create coordinated board outreach plan to advocate and build buy-in • Build in commitments/ideas that can feasibly be pursued without board approval

49. Table of contents Sections What’s included Page 1 Overview of the compact initiative • Compact overview • Context, rationale, and objectives 4 What makes a good compact • Criteria and example collaboration ideas 13 2 Development I: involving and engaging the right participants • Designating compact leads • Deciding who to engage in the process • Sample approaches for engaging the charter community 20 3 4 Development II: developing a meaningful compact • Developing an approach to content development • Templates and tools 26 5 • Development III: work planning 43 • What should be included in a work plan • Sample work plans 6 • Mitigating risk 47 • Planning ahead for risk 7 Ensuring follow-through • Planning ahead for implementation • Accountability process overview 49 8 Appendix • Catalogue of collaboration ideas 51

50. Implementation planning ideas captured from Cohort 1 Topics Capacity and resources • Designate a 2 person district-charter team to lead each commitment • Hire a full-time project manager • Create a charter school liaison to the district to help organize the charter community around this and other efforts Measurement and accountability • Create metrics to monitor progress on individual commitments • Report publicly on implementation progress every six months • Create detailed work plans with clear action item owners Risk mitigation • Look for quick wins in implementation to build momentum and positive press about what the compact can accomplish • Coordinate communication with and in the media to minimize “gotcha” tactics • Pursue additional signatures and letters to broaden support Maintaining a living document • Hold annual meeting specifically to consider revisions and updates that will ensure the collaboration remains relevant, timely, and effective • Invite leaders that did not sign to participate in meetings to challenge thinking and foster future buy-in