Strengthening Charter Authorizing Practices: State Board Releases 2024 Charter School Authorizer Evaluation Outcomes

During its February 21st quarterly meeting, the State Board of Education released outcomes for the 2024 charter school authorizer evaluations. The 2024 evaluations assessed the authorizing practices of the Achievement School District, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.

“Charter authorizer evaluations are designed to provide valuable feedback and hold authorizers accountable to our state’s quality authorizing standards.”  said Dr. Sara Morrison, Executive Director of the State Board of Education. “The priority with this robust evaluation is to reflect on achievements and progress made towards creating experiences for student success.”

Under statutory requirement, these bi-annual evaluations are designed to ensure the effective operation of all authorizers and assess authorizer quality in Tennessee. Tennessee’s charter authorizer evaluation cycle is conducted over a two-year period. 

Each charter school authorizer evaluation begins with the formation of an evaluation team and an examination of the authorizer’s documentation to determine performance based on state standards. After the evaluation, authorizers receive a final report detailing specific feedback, scores on the rubric’s standards, an overall rating, and follow-up actions. Authorizers can earn an overall rating on a scale from zero to four, with score ranges indicating unsatisfactory/incomplete, approaching satisfactory, satisfactory, commendable, and exemplary designations.

2024 Evaluation Outcomes: 

• Achievement School District – “Satisfactory” with a score of 2.19 out of 4
• Metro Nashville Public Schools – “Satisfactory” with a score of 2.9 out of 4
• Tennessee Public Charter School Commission – “Exemplary” with a score of 3.76 out of 4

Additional information, including the full charter authorizer evaluation reports, can be found on the State Board of Education’s website.