The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for measuring innovation in charter schools. The authors ask two questions: (1) What practices constitute innovation in various local and state contexts?; and (2) Do levels and types of innovation differ between charter schools and traditional public schools? The authors' sample frame includes traditional public schools from the Schools and Staffing Survey and charter schools from their Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) database in 103 school districts in 11 states. Based on their findings, the authors conclude that while charter schools on the whole may engage in innovative practices more often than traditional public schools, within their local context, they do not fulfill their promise of innovation. They do not have data that provides information on which school employed a practice first, therefore they cannot fully examine the impact charter schools may have had on the diffusion of innovative practice within their local context, but the results support a diffusion of innovation notion supported by institutional theory.