There is no escaping the need to demonstrate program efficacy, and that the bar constituting "proof" will be going up. Firms that have not made this a priority have no future in the market for school improvement services. Firms that are commited to demonstrating superior performance should be gathering as much insight into the subject as they can. The National Center for Education Statistics - part of the Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences - is part of the interagency mix that will be setting the bar. It offers a variety of free/low cost resources for evalution, including training. Every firm should be sending people to these activities - for a variety of reasons, but at a minimum because this is an open door invitation to the world of k-12 evaluation - and your profitability is affected by the rules this community will set.... One last point. If you look through the one training opportunity given as an example here and you can't think of anyone in your firm you can send, or even a close advisor or consultant - you have a staff capacity problem you need to fix. If you are an investor reading this and ask your CEOs who they might conceivably send to this kind of a session and they don't have good answers - you have one or more management problems.   more »

School enrollment questions go to the heart of charter schools' financial viability and are clearly a factor in the sales of school improvement products and services. "Customer acquisition" costs are lower for one school of 1500 students than three of 500; but three schools with different views of teaching and learning offer more marketing opportunties. Should industry groups have a view on the "right size?"   more »