Publications
Charter Scale with Quality
Considering School Turnarounds: Market Research and Analysis
March 2007Across the country, an increasing number of states and districts are taking action to turn around their chronically underperforming schools. As a result, a new market is rapidly emerging for school providers willing to help school systems tackle this challenge.
Charter Schools and the Capital Markets
January 2007Although charter schools are a promising innovation in education, their growth is hamstrung by a lack of sustaining capital, which is required to fill the gap between the per-pupil funds charter schools receive and the amount they need to develop effective organizations that provide consistent and high-quality education services and back-office support for their schools.
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Human Capital
Letter to the Next President
June 2009By Julie Mikuta and Julia Freeland (NewSchools Venture Fund) and Andrew Rotherham (Education Sector) Dear 44th President of the United States,
Teachers for America: Catalysts for change or untrained temporaries?
March 2008Schools across the nation are confronting the challenge to place an effective teacher in every classroom. In the provisions of No Child Left Behind, alternative licensure programs, and teacher pay plans, education reformers seek ways to improve the quality of the nation's teaching workforce. One landmark effort to tackle this issue is Teach for America (TFA). The initiative famously launched by 22-year-old Wendy Kopp and a small cadre of allies in 1990 has brought thousands of talented young people into teaching.
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Performance-Driven School Systems
Acting on Data: How Urban High Schools Use Data to Improve Instruction
January 2009Data is a powerful tool to support the goal of maximizing the academic potential of each child. When data serves as the foundation and culture of school systems, curriculum and instruction can be more closely tailored to each students’ particular academic needs. NewSchools Venture Fund is pleased to publish the findings from the final study of a three-part research project exploring the use of data in schools.
Conditions for Student Success: The Cycle of Continuous Instructional Improvement
March 2007How can school finance better support student performance? This is the question in front of the National Working Group on Funding Student Success, a group convened by the School Finance Redesign Project at the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education. The group's purpose is to craft a vision of performance-oriented school finance and what it takes to get there.
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Education Entrepreneurs and Systems Change
Investing in a Revolution: NewSchools Venture Fund and America's Education Entrepreneurs
May 2009This report was published in commemoration of NewSchools Venture Fund's 10th Anniversary. In the 10 years since its founding, NewSchools has moved from a couple of desks in Silicon Valley to a national force, uniquely positioned to identify and support innovative efforts in public education. And in those years, education entrepreneurs have moved from isolated success to become a movement and, increasingly, a household concept.
Fourth Annual Gathering of Education Entrepreneurs
February 2009Since 2005, NewSchools Venture Fund and the Aspen Institute have convened about 45 leaders in educational entrepreneurship, philanthropy, policymaking and research for the Annual Gathering of Education Entrepreneurs in Aspen, Colorado with the support of E*TRADE Financial. This year, participants focused on two key areas for opportunity and need for reform in public education: federal policy and R&D. This report summarizes the results of these conversations, and the ongoing work of thought leaders in education entrepreneurship who are tackling these challenges.
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