5-Year Process for Successful Charter Renewal

The Learning Collective works with charter schools, including those in need of turnaround, to successfully renew their charters. In fact, all charter schools with which weā€™ve worked have successfully achieved renewal. The Learning Collective occupies a unique niche ā€“ our clients include charter schools AND charter school authorizers. Our authorizer clients have included Central Michigan […]

Technical Assistance TLC Provides to Schools

The Learning Collective has been providing technical assistance to schools for many years. Some of our work has been assistance with discrete instructional tasks while other assistance can be thought of more broadly as helping the school carry out its strategic plan, or what is known in California as the Local Control and Accountability Plan […]

Tips for Learning & Teaching Through AI

The Learning Collective attended this yearā€™s SXSW EDU conference. We focused much of our time there on learning about the latest in AI. Though we left the conference with more questions than answers, we definitely feel more knowledgeable about AI and where it may lead us. Here are some of our takeaways from the conference […]

Lessons Learned from Culture & Climate Renewal Visits in Chicago

In late 2023, The Learning Collective led 23 in-person renewal visits of charter schools authorized by Chicago Public Schools. Most of those visits (18) focused exclusively on schools’ culture and climate.Ā  This is a new direction, begun in 2022, that CPS’s Office of Innovation and Incubation and The Learning Collective have embarked on together. Theory […]

Time for Charter Schools’ Strategic Planning

The academic aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to affect students across the country. While the pandemic led to many students’ unfinished learning, it also created a unique opportunity to reflect on how schools can best meet the needs of their students. The Learning Collective can help schools determine the best next steps forward.

Large-Scale Charter Renewal Visits

In FallĀ 2022, Chicago Public Schools engaged The Learning Collective to lead the in-person renewal visits, and report writing on those visits, of 20 of its authorized charter schools. The evaluations are one or two days in length and focus on one or more of the following three areas:

University Supported Guide for 2022-23 School Planning

The Center for Charter Schools at Central Michigan University (CMU) teamed with The Learning Collective and Venn Education (Venn) to examine the impacts, changes and innovations schools have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Half-Day Strategic Planning Most Valuable

Through the California Department of Educationā€™s Public Charter Schools Grant Program, The Learning Collective has conducted external reviews of 80 charter schools, 16 of which were remote reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic. Going beyond the requirements by the California Department of Education, we have added a half-day strategic planning session which has proven to be […]

Strategic School Turnaround

In a time where change is the only thing education can count on, schools are challenged to focus on high quality learning and teaching, some schools have lost their focus. The Learning Collective (TLC) and Venn Education (Venn) have partnered to work with charter schools to assess their condition and help them refocus for turnaround.Ā Our […]

TLC Leads 5-Year Goal Setting for all Tennessee Public Schools

During the 2019-20 academic year, The Learning Collective worked with theĀ Tennessee State Board of EducationĀ to lead its board and staff members in a strategic planning and goal-setting process and to develop a new Master Plan. It was an honor to leadĀ the process to develop the five-year direction for all Tennessee public schools representing approximately 1,000,000 […]