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Education Service Providers Project

NACSA's Education Service Providers Project is designed to provide charter school authorizers, operators, and other charter school supporters with information, knowledge and practical tools that can improve the quality, sustainability and success of service relationships between charter schools and education providers.

The charter school movement has fostered the rapid development of education management organizations and encouraged the growth of comprehensive school reform models. NACSA identifies these entities as Education Service Providers (ESPs) and believes these organizations can provide important resources to build the capacities and success of charter schools, both individually and at scale. NACSA member agencies have learned a great deal about effective ways for ESPs to operate or serve charter schools, as well as ways for charter authorizers to facilitate successful partnerships between schools and ESPs.

NACSA encourages and supports constructive, lasting relationships among charter schools, ESPs and authorizers. To this end, we intend our ESP Project resources to be useful and accessible to authorizers, charter operators, parents, community leaders and other stakeholders in public education reform.

Through the Education Service Providers Project, NACSA has developed the following resources:

• An ESP Resource Toolkit – containing items such as contract review checklists, service contracting policies, sample provisions in charter contracts relating to service providers, and performance evaluation protocols – used by charter authorizers and schools working with education service providers. NACSA Members and Associate Members can access an electronic copy of the Toolkit in NACSA’s Online Library of Charter School Authorizer Resources or receive a hard copy at no charge, upon request to NACSA. Non-members may order print copies online.

• A Web-based Education Service Provider Information Clearinghouse – containing objective information on the services provided by education service providers (both school management organizations and comprehensive school design programs) working in more than one state, their experience with charter schools, and the client charter schools themselves. This Clearinghouse is a central source of objective, non-confidential and readily verifiable information about ESPs serving charter schools, drawing upon and augmenting resources in the public domain. The Clearinghouse is available online to NACSA Members and Associate Members. Non-members may view a demonstration area of the Clearinghouse or
join NACSA for full access to the Clearinghouse and other NACSA resources.

The ESP Clearinghouse contains profiles for each of the following education service providers (name of school design listed in parentheses):

Comprehensive School Design Providers
  • American Montessori Society (Montessori Education)
  • America's Choice (America's Choice School Design)
  • Big Picture Company (The Met)
  • Core Knowledge Foundation (Core Knowledge)
  • EdVisions Cooperative
  • Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound (Expeditionary Learning)
  • Galef Institute (Different Ways of Knowing)
  • High Tech High Learning (High Tech High)
  • International Baccalaureate Organization (Diploma, Middle Years, and Primary Years Programmes)
  • Jobs for the Future and partners (Early College High School)
  • KIPP Foundation (Knowledge Is Power Program)
  • MicroSociety (MicroSociety Program)
  • Modern Red Schoolhouse Institute (Modern Red Schoolhouse)
  • National Center for Accelerated Schools PLUS (Accelerated Schools PLUS)
  • National Paideia Center (Paideia Program)
  • New Technology Foundation (New Technology High School)
  • Success For All Foundation (Success for All)
  • YouthBuild USA


    •

    Education Management Organizations


  • Academica Corporation
  • American Quality Schools
  • Aspire Public Schools
  • Charter Schools Administration Services
  • Charter Schools USA
  • Choice Schools Associates
  • Concept Schools (Horizon Science Academy)
  • Designs for Learning (Community Learning Centers)
  • Edison Schools
  • GEO Group
  • Green Dot Public Schools (Ánimo Schools)
  • Helicon Associates
  • Imagine Schools
  • Leadership Public Schools (Leadership Public Schools)
  • Leona Group
  • Lighthouse Academies (Lighthouse Academy)
  • Mosaica Education (Mosaica School Design with Paragon Curriculum)
  • National Heritage Academies
  • Richard Milburn High School (Richard Milburn Academy)
  • SABIS Educational Systems (SABIS Edge)
  • Victory Schools
  • White Hat Management (Hope Academy, Life Skills Center, Distance and Electronic Learning Academy)


    • Virtual School Management Organizations


  • Connections Academy (Connections Academy)
  • Education Management Systems (Options for Youth, Opportunities for Learning)
  • Innovative Education Management
  • K12 (K12 Virtual Academy)


    • NACSA’s Education Service Providers Project was recently updated and expanded in 2005 by Adam Lowe, a consultant with Saffron Ventures, under a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.