For ICSN supporting charter success means supporting high quality, high performing schools. ICSN supports schools through technical assistance and programmatic visits to reflect with them on how students are performing and how well they are realizing the promises of their charter. The Accountability Plan is the framework for the Programmatic Audit.

Accountability Plan Overview

In 2004 the Idaho Charter School Network (ICSN)  worked in collaboration with the Colorado League of Charter Schools, the Idaho State Department of Education, and an ICSN Accountability Committee made up of school district administrators, local charter educators, parents, and founders to develop this Accountability Plan for Idaho’s Public Charter Schools.

Why Design an Accountability Plan? Charter school accountability has been a central component of the charter education movement since the beginning of the movement when authorizers granted charters freedom from red tape and bureaucracy in exchange for accountability. Asking whether, or not, a charter school is working is a three-fold question involving issues of law, academics, and school vitality. It is a question that requires a common understanding between a charter school and its authorizer on how the school will be held accountable. The first decade of the charter movement saw many authorizers that did little to monitor and evaluate the progress of their chartered schools. As a result, when the time came to renew the charter, the decision to do so, or not, was somewhat arbitrary. Currently, charter schools in Idaho do not have to have their charters renewed, but accountability for excellence and student achievement is essential to their sustainability.