Charter School Support Initiative

Effective December 2022, The Charter School Support Initiative (CSSI) Evaluative Rubric, has been updated and is now referred to as the CSSI Four Plus Domains of Rapid School Improvement Rubric. Formerly, the CSSI evaluative rubric mirrored the Colorado Title I School Support evaluation process and recommendations based on the Colorado Department of Education Ten Standards of Continuous Improvement ranging from academic performance, school culture, finance, governance, etc.

The CSSI Four Plus Domains to Rapid School Improvement were adapted from Colorado’s Four Domains of Rapid School Improvement. The CSSI Four Plus Domains of Rapid School Improvement is a research-proven framework to help facilitate rapid improvement in schools by creating domains and practices that apply across the systems implemented in your charter school. Within the framework, the four domains outlined are: Leadership for Rapid Improvement, Talent Management, Instructional Transformation, and Culture and Climate Shift.  For each domain, practices are defined that describe the role of charter school leadership and governance members, providing examples of their roles in successful school improvement efforts. The framework is not intended to provide an exhaustive list of activities within each practice or even of all practices. Instead, it offers examples, considerations, and practical applications of what it takes to lead systemic efforts to achieve rapid school improvement successfully. The CSSI Team will be using a Four Plus Domains model to incorporate evaluative measures aligned with governance board oversight and charter school financial practices. Standard 9 (Governance) and Standard 10 (Finance) from the Colorado Department of Education Ten Standards of Continuous Improvement will continued to be used to evaluate these areas.

CCSP sub-grantees are expected to participate in a CSSI site visit during implementation year two of their grant cycle.  The purpose of engaging in this process is to set a course for self-improvement in the early years of development. The CSSI process begins with an intensive three-day site visit, after which the school receives a detailed report based on the Four Plus Domains to Rapid School Improvement rubric, with recommendations for research-based steps to improve school performance. Grant funds may be used to cover the costs associated with the site visit and subsequent implementation of the plan for improvement developed by the charter school based on the CSSI team’s report.  The cost of the site visit will be dependent on the size of the school and the size of the site visit team.  

CSSI Preparation Links:

• CSSI Orientation Overview (updated December 2022)
• CSSI Playbook (updated December 2022

Resources:

• Domain 1 Leadership for Rapid Improvement (Excel)
• Domain 2 Talent management (Excel)
• Domain 3 Instructional Transformation (Excel)
• Domain 4 Culture and Climate Shift (Excel)
• CSSI Standard 9 Rubric (PDF)
• CSSI Standard 10 Rubric (PDF)