One way DC PCSB provides transparent oversight to its charter schools.

1. Transparency in communication and reporting ensures charter schools
understand:
• The high and low-stakes data an authorizer reviews
• What is considered a red flag
• What is deemed as indicators of high quality
• What might be shared with internal and external stakeholders
• What will be considered to make authorizing decisions
• High-stakes, such as charter renewal or expansion criteria
• Low-stakes, such as what triggers an email to the school’s leader/Board
STRATEGIES FOR TRANSPARENCY IN OVERSIGHT

2. DC PCSB EXAMPLE: OUTLIER EMAILS
DATA
COLLECTED
MONTHLY
TEAM DATA
REVIEW TO
IDENTIFY
OUTLIERS
EMAILS SENT
TO OUTLIERS
DC PCSB flags outlier in areas such as attendance, suspension, expulsion, and
midyear withdrawal. For many schools, the outcome improves in the months
following the outlier email.

3. OUTLIER EMAILS: BEGINS WITH A DATA REVIEW
Outliers: % of Students with an Out-of-School Suspension–data YTD though Feb.
% OSS overall rates and outlier threshold:
Grade Band Overall % of Students with OSS
Elementary 2.4%
Middle 6.7%
High 9.6%
Alternative 6.5%
Adult 0.3%

4. OUTLIER EMAILS: BEGINS WITH A DATA REVIEW
Outliers:
Green text indicates an improvement compared to last year’s data, while red text indicates a
worsening compared to last year’s data.
*School has already received a communication from PCSB regarding this metric.
School Name Grade Band 2017-18 # of
Students with
OSS
2017-18 % of
Students with
OSS
2016-17 # of
Students with
OSS
ABC Public Charter School* Middle 58 22.6% 11.9%
YYY Public Charter School Elementary 31 7.9% 12.9%
ZZZ Public Charter School* Elementary 30 7.3% 7.2%
123 public Charter School Adult 6 4.4% 1.6%

5. OUTLIER EMAILS: SCHOOL RECEIVES EMAIL
Dear School Leaders,
I hope all is well. While reviewing campus and sector-level data, PCSB staff noticed
your school has suspension rates much higher than the sector average in the
categories below (data through the end of September).
Grade Band Charter Sector Averages for OSS %
Middle 1.8%
School Name 2017-18 # of
Students with
OSS
2017-18 % of
Students with
OSS
2016-17 # of
Students with
OSS
ABC Public Charter School 39 15.2% 2.2%

6. OUTLIER EMAILS: SCHOOL RECEIVES EMAIL
(continued)
While numbers don’t tell the whole story, your school is an outlier in the areas
referenced above and we wanted to bring it to your attention. We realize your team
may already be aware of these trends and having internal discussions about
discipline. If you’d like to respond, we are interested to know how your school may be
planning to address this. If you think there are errors in this data or want to discuss it
further, please feel free to call or email me back.
Best,
Authorizer