What Works in Urban Public Charter Schools?

Youth Policy Institute Charter Schools (YPI) in Los Angeles County has met major growth achievements during the past two years. When preparing for our charter petition renewal, the leadership team analyzed extensive data and feedback from key stakeholders to identify what was working in YPI schools.

Best Practices

We identified the following five best practices:

1. Our newly hired teachers are highly qualified with 15 – 20 years of teaching experiences and added years of professional experiences beyond teaching.
2. Our teachers provide differentiated reading support and literacy instruction based on each student’s tested reading level. We have closed up to six years of grade level reading gaps in shorter amounts of time.
3. Our teachers and students review grade level performance data daily to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This analysis helps students identify what they learn each day.
4. Parents are critically important to their school’s success through varied levels of leadership involvement and engagement.
5. Parents and their students are taught how to support each other in preparing for a specific career path that will include college and career preparation.

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