Despite the challenges, positive outcomes are achievable. Capital Impact aims to fund schools willing to rise to the challenge and create and maintain diverse by design school campuses.
Our extensive research yielded examples of several best practices for schools pursuing the diverse by design model, including:
- Locating schools in naturally diverse neighborhoods or on the border of racially or socio-economically diverse communities;
- Instituting a weighted lottery system for student recruitment that takes into account socio-economic status, parental education levels, and/or census tract;
- Training teachers and staff on equitable and culturally responsive pedagogical practices and recruiting diverse personnel; and
- Promoting the benefits of integration to students, families, and communities.
Capital Impact has begun financing charter schools that we feel are successfully implementing this model, including High Tech High in California, E.L. Haynes Public Charter School and Lee Montessori Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., and Montessori for All in Texas.
Capital Impact has presented these findings, in partnership with thought partners and schools at the National Charter School Conference, the Central Valley Leadership Program, and a gathering hosted by the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition.
These schools are promoting academic excellence for all by creating inclusive and nurturing environments in which all students have equitable opportunities to succeed, and we look forward to collaborating to continue this progress.
For more about how Capital Impact is working to support the “diverse by design” model, we invite you to learn more about our overall education work and strategy behind why we finance charter schools.
