Using a sociopolitical perspective to understand the alignment of community values and school policies, we conducted focus groups in three geographically close but economically varied neighborhood in one Midwest urban area. The article presents findings related to constituent values, social capital, and school policies, including charter school…

Americans both care about their schools and want them to improve. Though adults give the nation's public schools only mediocre grades, they are willing to invest more money in public education and they are reasonably confident that doing so will improve student learning. They are also open to a host of school reforms ranging from high-stakes…

As of the 2006-2007 school year, 19,733 students attended charter schools in the District of Columbia, representing over a quarter of the District's total public school student population and one of the largest charter school markets in the country. It is under such circumstances, some suggest, that choice will spur competition, ultimately…

This paper examines school-related policies and strategies that have been proposed or justified, at least in part, on the basis of their potential for reducing black-white test score gaps. These include strategies, one of which is greater integration, to reduce differences in the quality of teachers faced by black and white students; school and…

In this article, the author features Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School in Philadelphia, the only Philadelphia's charter high school that meets the adequate yearly progress testing benchmarks in 2003 as established by No Child Left Behind, and describes how the academy's headmaster and founder, Vuong Thuy, confronted criticisms from the…