Using a rich dataset that merges student-level school records with birth records, and leveraging three alternative identification strategies, we explore how increase in access to charter schools in twelve districts in Florida affects students remaining in traditional public schools (TPS). We consistently find that competition stemming from the…

The purpose of this research is to understand the relationship among school conditions, teacher job satisfaction, intention to stay, and school type (charter versus traditional public schools) and to determine if school conditions, and thereby job satisfaction, influences teachers' intention to stay in the field. Understanding this is critical to…

For decades, charter schools have been promoted as a panacea for increasing competition in the educational marketplace. Supporters argue that increased choice forces neighboring schools to innovate, while opponents contend that charters "skim" students and funds away from traditional public schools (TPS). We test the two differing views…

Charter schools have been growing in the United States and worldwide over the past two decades, and there is considerable interest in how they affect students remaining in traditional public schools (TPSs). Charter schools present important policy questions, as they often compete for the same students, educators, and resources as TPSs. This brief…

The number of charter schools in operation has steadily increased over the years, particularly in the state of Florida. In Florida, independently run charter schools experience closures or mandated control from Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) for several reasons; therefore, the purpose of this study is to iterate how alternative methods of…

Advocates of charter schools hold that the marketization of education compels all schools to be innovative in raising student achievement outcomes. Opponents of charter schools dispute whether the impact of charter schools on student achievement is statistically sufficient to justify taking resources from traditional public schools. Another…

This dissertation consists of two chapters on topics in Industrial Organization. In Chapter 1, I discuss a central question of the policy debate on public education: how to get more for less. Charter schools have been a tool in this arena to pressure traditional public schools to improve or lose students to them. Moreover, charter schools…

Charter schools were created to diversify public education, innovate with education programs and governance, increase student achievement, and serve as models for traditional public schools. The purpose of this study was to analyze leadership practices in independent high-performing charter schools in the Miami-Dade County of the State of Florida…

In a technology-driven society, computing devices are used more in education to make learning engaging, individualize learning, and enhance instruction. Educators are implementing computing devices and ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) to access various learning programs and software. Using ICTs, students engage in project-based…

Numerous video games marketed entirely for entertainment purposes, also known as commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) titles, can serve as an effective tool for teaching students complicated skills such as executive functioning, hypothesis testing, and critical analysis. In this phenomenological case study, I outline a pedagogical approach that…

This case study was designed to determine the extent to which standardized mathematics and reading scores in traditional public school differ before and after the introduction of a public charter school in central Florida rural cities. The purpose of the quantitative casual-comparative research study was to determine the impact to the traditional…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how K-2 teachers perceive the effectiveness of multi-sensory phonics methods used in conjunction with a standards-based reading curriculum on students' reading acquisition skills, students' decoding abilities, and student engagement in an inclusive classroom at a public charter school in…

2022 turned out to be a dynamic year for charter schools, as many state lawmakers recognized the fact parents want more schooling options that fit their children's unique needs. In total, close to 50% of states with charter school laws gained at least one legislative win. Read for more details on how the charter school movement strengthened in the…

Charter schools have continued to draw an increasingly larger share of the students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), such that as of October 2022, 24.6% (n=82,635) of the District's students attended a charter school (Urdegar, 2022). This growth can be accounted for by examining changes to the proportion of the students enrolled at…

In this study, the authors draw on 58 interviews with state policy makers and experts in five states to examine how state policy makers and education leaders think about school choice policy and how issues of equity show up in state-level discourse and action. The findings from these interviews suggest that more could be done to advance equity in…