Demands for increased school accountability created by No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds legislation has resulted in the implementation of professional development programs in which educators are observers rather than collaborative participants. The problem at a secondary independent charter school in Central Ohio was the lack of a…

This report examines the results of the Senior Exit Survey, which is administered annually to all graduating high school students. The fourfold purpose of the survey is to explore: (1) senior's postsecondary plans; (2) the credentials they plan to acquire; (3) the institutions they plan to attend; and (4) the fields of study they choose to pursue.…

On January 4, 2022 the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) released high school graduation rates for the State of Florida and the District. The FY21 Federal High School Graduation Rate includes standard diplomas but excludes special diplomas and General Education Diplomas (GEDs). Students with Disabilities (SWD) on Access Points curriculum are…

This report arrives during a time of heightened scrutiny and civic engagement. While public attention is currently trained primarily on Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), this research encompasses the whole of the city's education system, marking both commonalities and differences between different types of publicly funded schools. It highlights…

Charter schools have become a widely used alternative to traditional public schools, both nationally and in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast Region. They play an increasingly important role in state reform efforts. South Carolina stakeholders--including the South Carolina Department of Education, the Public Charter School…

New Mexico School for the Arts (NMSA), a public/private partnership comprised of an accredited New Mexico state charter high school and a non-profit arts educational institution, opened its doors in 2010 to students from throughout the state of New Mexico. NMSA administrators and teachers take pride in the fact that their ninth through twelfth…

This case study provides superintendents, principals, and teachers with information on how three school systems have used an assessment developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)--the OECD Test for Schools--to monitor students' academic outcomes and inform shifts in policy and teacher practice to meet students'…

This study determined if factors such as teaching in a charter or traditional public school, gender, years of experience, or teaching a subject assessed by TNReady--Tennessee's high-stakes test--affected burnout among teachers in Memphis, Tennessee. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected through the…

African American high school students' erudition of Black history, including the events and individuals who afforded them freedoms, enhances their informed decision making and impacts them as citizens. The purpose of this article is to detail how African American high school students engage in critical discourse regarding how historical events…

Meaningful teacher-student relationships are linked to a range of positive student outcomes. However, there is limited research on how teacher education programs attempt to prepare teachers to form relationships with students. This article employs comparative case methodology to explore how two different teacher residency programs--No Excuses…

The study focuses on a two-week unit with 90 students at an urban, Latinx-serving charter middle and high school in the south midwestern U.S. to create digital counterstory maps. The maps then served as the organizing content for a subsequent week-long summer professional development the authors led for their teachers. Analysis suggests the…

Eleven project-based learning charter schools participated in this correlational study. Eight have participated for 2 years and three for 1 year. The schools are affiliated with EdVisions, a non-profit organization that helps create individualized, project-based learning schools. There were five variables in this correlational study: the hope…

The life span of Silver Oak High School, a public charter Montessori Secondary program located in Hayward, California, can be likened to Montessori's planes of development, which span the years from birth to age 24. Montessori educational practice pays special attention to the evolving needs of the individual within each plane of development.…

Accomplished arts educator Linda F. Nathan profiles Conservatory Lab Charter School in Boston, a PreK-8 school that specializes in music education. In addition to academic coursework, Conservatory Lab students--many of whom are from low-income, minority families--learn musical instruments, play in ensembles, and compose and conduct music. Nathan…

A unique partnership between public charter schools, a civic chamber orchestra, and university school of music has brought music instruction to middle school students in central Ohio. This collaborative endeavor can serve as a model for charter schools administrators wishing to expand their curricular offerings to include music and other arts…