Working with authorizers to support Montessori charter schools

Charter school authorizers do more than authorize charter schools. Authorizers have long-term monitoring and support relationships with the schools they oversee. 

Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free schools that typically operate independently from local school districts and, as such, are held accountable for their performance by their authorizer, whether that be a state or local education agency, a university, or an independent board. 

Charter authorizers have a host of tools and measures available to assess academic outcomes, financial stability, and organizational effectiveness. But an authorizer doesn’t grant a charter to a generic school, they grant a charter to specific school with a specific mission and approach, and authorizers don’t always have tools to measure the model-specific qualities for which the school has been chartered: Is this charter school a good IB school, a good Project-Based school, a good Montessori school?

Of the 600 public Montessori schools in the U.S., over a third are charter schools, according to the Montessori Census.  Authorizers need tools to know if the school is delivering for families the model it was chartered to deliver.

“I have evaluated many new school applications and heard plenty about models like Montessori, Opportunity Schools, Early College, and others. I’ve also visited several of them. But when I reviewed these applications, at times I felt out of my depth in evaluating if they had a quality assessment plan, adequate staffing equations, or realistic budget assumptions that fit their specific model,” said Jay Whalen, Director of Authorizer and School Quality at the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), in a LinkedIn post last month. “While it’s impossible to be an expert in every aspect of every model, dedicated and tailored learning can help authorizers have enough knowledge to evaluate different educational approaches and ask the right model-specific questions.”

NCMPS has been working with NACSA to help them better understand and support Montessori schools. The work began in 2022 with NCMPS presenting at NACSA’s annual conference, and has continued with presentations and explorations of the NCMPS Essential Elements for Montessori in the Public Sector and the Essential Elements Implementation Rubric.

“NACSA’s collaboration with NCMPS is so critical in this project, because while NACSA’s expertise lies in authorizing, NCMPS brings expertise in the development and operation of public Montessori schools,” said David Greenberg, NACSA’s Vice President of Authorizer Learning and Development. “Together we can help authorizers better understand this educational model so that they can better respond to families’ demand for more Montessori charter schools.”

In September, NACSA will collaborate with NCMPS on a special three-part webinar series for authorizers, “Authorizing Montessori Schools.” I will be presenting at the first webinar, “Montessori Basics,” exploring the key design elements that make Montessori schools unique. The next two sessions feature perspectives from Montessori school leaders and charter authorizers with Montessori schools currently in their portfolios.

We’re hoping to provide NACSA and their constituents with resources that empower them to do their job well and with confidence. About 15 new public Montessori schools have opened every year for the last 35 years. On average, roughly half of them have been charter schools. If an authorizer doesn’t have a charter Montessori school in their portfolio now, they probably will soon.

This expected growth is a result of educators and parents becoming more informed on educational options, Montessori included. Ensuring that authorizers have the resources they need to ask the right questions when reviewing a Montessori charter school application and implementation plan is crucial to ensuring that prospective schools don’t fail before they begin and current schools are supported to thrive.

“Authorizing Montessori Schools,” will be held Sept. 10, 17, and 24, from noon-1:30 central time. Authorizers can register on the NACSA website: Register for the webinars. 

Seth Webb

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Seth Webb is the Director of School Services at National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector.