Giving Compass' Take:

• The Citizens of the World Charter School network in Los Angeles cracked the code for figuring out how to diversify their schools by design and know how to replicate the process at various schools within their network. 

• Why is it important to have charter school demographics reflect the demographics of the neighborhood of the school?

• Read more about The Century Foundation's report on diversity by design within charter school networks. 

Based in California, Citizens of the World Charter Schools operates three schools in Los Angeles that demonstrate that high performance and intentional diversity can go hand in hand.

Citizens of the World’s expansion beyond Los Angeles has met with mixed success. The network’s first effort, which involved opening two schools in New York City, was problematic. But network leaders learned from that challenging experience and have shown a promising start to their second attempt, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Identifying diverse neighborhoods and setting enrollment goals is the first step in the network’s strategy for creating integrated schools. Each charter application identifies the communities that will be served by a school, looks at the community’s demographics, and sets admissions benchmarks to mirror that diversity.

The network then creates robust recruitment plans to attract a diverse pool of applicants. Schools have partnered with youth organizations, health networks, Head Start, churches, the YWCA, and Big Brothers Big Sisters to distribute information to low-income families and families of color.

The network’s commitment to diversity does not stop with enrolling a diverse student body; diversity is woven throughout the network’s educational model, from pedagogy to parent engagement.

Its approach to learning is designed to ensure that students have opportunities to interact with diverse peers and with a diverse curriculum. “We don’t think that just by making your population diverse, that inherently leverages the diversity itself,” said CEO and co-founder Kriste Dragon. Network leaders say that, as a result, their learning model is project-based, culturally relevant, and data-driven.

Social-emotional learning is also a significant component of Citizens of the World’s educational approach. Lining the walls of CWC Hollywood’s hallways are pictures of the school’s “peacemaking coaches” — older students who serve as peer mediators, leading by example and helping to resolve conflicts among other students.

Read the full article about diversity in charter school network by Halley Potter at The 74