Board Governance
As the school’s governing body, the board of trustees is legally responsible for the academic, financial, and operational quality of the charter school. Given the centrality of autonomy to charter schools, the board is integral to the proper oversight of schools. The National Charter School Resource Center leverages the existing body of knowledge to offer best practices and tools to enable charter schools to establish and maintain an effective board.
Featured Board Governance Resources

“A Synthesis of Research on Charter School Facilities” examines the…

Identifying Indicators of Distress in Charter Schools Part 1: The Role and Perspective of Charter School Authorizers
Indicators of Distress and What They Mean in the Charter Sector: A Webinar for Charter Sector Stakeholders Introducing…

Webinar: Recruitment for Governing Boards
The Death Spiral: Identifying Early Indicators of Distress in Charter Schools (A Conversation with Authorizers)
All Board Governance Resources

CSO Master Class: School Leadership Development
Event08 Feb, 2016
State-based charter support organizations (CSOs) are leading and innovating practices in their states to serve high-performing charter schools. School operators look to CSOs to help with… Read more

Can You Afford That New Charter School Facility?
ToolkitsCharter School Growth05 Jan, 2016
CSGF offers a tool that boards can use to answer the question: “how much building can I afford?”.
CSO Master Class: New School Development
Event03 Dec, 2015
State-based charter support organizations (CSOs) provide services for charter schools, including best practices, tools, and resources to support the development of new schools in their… Read more

Master Class: Board Development and Governance
Event09 Sep, 2015
Non-profit boards serve an important role in ensuring strong governance of schools. Independent governance is the key differentiator between public charter schools and other public schools—… Read more

Public Accountability for Charter Schools
ReportsBrown University's Annenberg Institute for School Reform19 Sep, 2014
A new report on charter schools from Brown University’s Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) recommends changes to state charter legislation and charter authorizer standards that… Read more

Charter School Law Rankings and Scorecard 2014
ReportsThe Center for Education Reform17 Mar, 2014
This scorecard is the 2014 annual ranking of charter school law by The Center for Education Reform, which serves as an easy visual to break down the the relative ranking of legislation… Read more

Does the Charter School Board Need to Vote on Everything?
ReportsJoe Keeny, Michael Higgins01 Nov, 2013
The actions of charter schools are often at the discretion of charter school boards, which have governing authority and operate under the state’s charter school laws and regulations. Most… Read more

Performance Management: Evaluating Charter School Academic Performance
Webinar17 Sep, 2013 to 17 Sep, 2013
This National Charter School Resource Center webinar focused on the Core Academic Performance Framework developed by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). The… Read more

School Quality: Pointed Advice and Guidance for Charter School Boards
Webinar28 Aug, 2013 to 28 Aug, 2013
The National Charter School Resource Center hosted a webinar on August 28, 2013, which focused on how governing boards can address school performance issues.The webinar featured Carrie… Read more

Accountability: A Partnership for Improving Charter Schools Academic Performance
Webinar13 Jun, 2013 to 13 Jun, 2013
The National Charter School Resource Center hosted a webinar on June 13, 2013, which explored how the Arizona Charter Schools Association (ACSA) and the Arizona State Board for Charter… Read more