Purpose: School choice policies are expected to generate competition leading to improvement in school practices. However, little is known about how competition operates in public education--particularly in charter schools. This paper examines charter-school leaders' competitive perception formation and the actions taken in response to competition.…

Arizona is arguably the nation's most innovative state for educational choice. It has a thriving charter school sector that serves 16 percent of the state's students in 556 charter schools. The state has also launched several groundbreaking programs for families to attend private schools. In 1997, Arizona passed the nation's first tax-credit…

Council for American Private Education (CAPE) is a coalition of national associations serving private schools K-12. Outlook is published monthly by CAPE. This issue contains the following articles: (1) CAPE Joins Brief in Arizona School Choice Case; (2) Vouchers Bring Higher Graduation Rates; (3) Students Safer in Private Schools; (4) CAPE on…

This article focuses on how parental school choices affect the degree of racial and academic segregation in charter schools. The research design allows for a direct comparison of the racial and academic conditions of the district schools students exited to the charter schools they entered. Parents choose to leave more racially integrated district…

"Parent Attitudes about Education in Arizona: 2006" is the third-annual study of the opinion of Arizona parents on the issues facing public schools. The study is conducted by the Arizona Education Policy Initiative (AEPI), a collaboration of Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona, and it is a…

This paper is a collection of ten policy briefs examining various key elements of the state's public education system. The authors, contributors, and reviewers of the briefs are, for the most part, on the faculty of Arizona's three public universities: Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona. Michael…

In 2004 the Arizona Education Policy Initiative (AEPI), a collaboration of Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona, conducted its first-annual survey of parents in a systematic effort to capture parent opinion and establish a framework for tracking parent views over time. Assessing parent opinion is…

The Arizona Education Policy Initiative (AEPI), a collaboration of Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona, conducted a statewide telephone survey to get parents' perspectives on the condition of education in the state. From March 17 to March 27, 2004, a statewide random sample of 400 Arizona parents…