Collaborative for Inclusive Education
The Collaborative for Inclusive Education is a national leader in implementing and scaling inclusive practices for special populations in charter schools. For 15 years, this Charter Center membership program has provided comprehensive supports and services designed to empower NYC charter schools’ efforts to serve ALL students equitably and inclusively.
benefits of
membership
With more than 100 live professional development opportunities each school year, the Collaborative team is dedicated to building the capacity and skills of leaders, coaches and educators.
Classroom observations, program audits and strategic planning bolster schools’ ELL/MLL, Special Education and Inclusive Education programs.
A Technical Assist Rapid Response line, Compliance Digests and Tips from the Trade enable school staff to access the team’s more than 60 years of combined special populations leadership experience.
The Collaborative team is committed to providing NYC charter schools with access to the country’s thought leaders, up-to-date research and promising trends through speaker series, communities of practice and more!
The digital resource library offers member schools research, guidance, exemplars and training materials while the PD on Demand course catalogue ensures round the clock access to guidance on mandates and best practices.
Collaborative leadership has a seat at the table and advocates for laws, policies, and practices that ensure special education accountability and reform at both the city and state levels.
building an inclusive education
mindset and practice
SERVING STUDENTS
WITH DYSLEXIA
FOCUS ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
“When a student is in the right place, when they come to school at a place that values them, that makes them feel safe, that meets their needs, that is the game changer… That’s the power of charter schools.”
Tim Castanza, Executive Director, Bridge Preparatory Charter School
140
charter schools featured a preference for ELLs in their 2023-24 admission lotteries
39%
increse in ELL enrollment in the last two years
19%
of students enrolled in charter schools have disabilities
76
charter schools enroll a higher proportion of students with disabilities than the city wide average
2025-26 School Year
As a sector leader and advisor, the Collaborative for Inclusive Education defined NYCPS’s implementation and rollout of the 10% increase in funding for charter school special education students in the 20-60% service delivery category.
The Collaborative facilitates three online Learning Communities (Counselor/Social Workers, High School, and MLL/ELL), serving 1,915 NYC charter school leaders and educators. The groups share resources, provide compliance support, and share best practices from the field.
Collaborative team members spent a combined 386 hours directly assisting and supporting charter school educators through on-site campus visits and virtual consultations.
The Collaborative team added 26 PD sessions to the Charter Center’s online PD on Demand platform, for a total of 78 virtual courses designed to build capacity and skill sets of special education leaders and educators.
The Collaborative offered 141 in-person, virtual, and hybrid PD sessions (17% more than the previous year!) to empower school leaders and special populations leads and educators.
The Collaborative team represented the NYC charter sector at city and state-wide conferences this past year, delivering 7 presentations highlighting data and best practices to support fellow special education staff.
277 charter school campuses engaged in Collaborative membership during the 2025-26 school year.
