Monday, May 12, 2008

Arlington County-based Imagine Schools, one of the country's largest charter school networks, grades its schools each year on six factors: shared values, parent choice, academic achievement, positive character development, economic sustainability and new school development. Here is how chief executive Dennis Bakke graded the network overall in 2006-7:

Shared Values -- Integrity, Justice and Fun: B-minus"Stealing money, an obvious breach of integrity, was a particular values problem this year. I lowered our Shared Values grade from B-plus to a B-minus because of several incidents of stealing from Imagine by our people."

Parent Choice: B. "Almost half our schools earned an A on this measure. Many were 90 percent or more full and had re-enrollment rates in the 80 percent range (despite many families moving from the local area of our schools). At the center of Parent Choice and the whole charter school movement is competition. We embrace competition and teach its value in our schools. It forces us to be better."

Academic Achievement: A-minus."Students who attended our schools in 2006-7 achieved an average growth of one and a quarter grade levels in reading and math. We also had several schools achieve an A grade on the basis of the state proficiency standard."

Positive Character Development: B."All but three of our schools completed comprehensive evaluations of their character education programs. . . . I have asked that by 2009, all our high schools require successful completion of a semester ethics course, 'Who is a really good person, and how does one become a good person?' "

Economic Sustainability: C-plus. "We did better than last year in Economic Sustainability, although higher expectations kept the overall grade the same. . . . There are only a handful of charter school organizations in the nation capable of ensuring that their schools can survive financial start-up losses or financial hiccups in later years. Of these organizations, Imagine Schools is arguably the strongest."

New School Development: B-minus. "This August and September (2007) we opened 15 new schools . . . : three in Georgia, one in Indiana, two in Maryland, six in Missouri, two in Ohio and one in Washington D.C."

-- Jay Mathews