Since the first charter school law passed in 1991, U.S. charter schools have enjoyed steady and relatively rapid growth, now serving more than three million students nationally. In more than 58 cities, charter schools represent more than 20 percent of all public school enrollment. In seven cities, charter schools enroll more than 40 percent of…

This report evaluates the current state of research on New York City charter schools. Overall, their effect on student performance is unambiguously positive.The research however, is more dated and limited in scope than proponents and critics of charters appreciate. While the research on charter schools across the U.S. is growing, this paper…

Voucher options like tuition tax credit-funded scholarship programs have become increasingly popular in recent years. One argument for such school choice policies is that public schools will improve the quality of education they offer when faced with competition for their students. This study examines the effects of private school competition on…

When the concept of charter schools was first implemented in California in 1993, the goal was to allow the modification of existing public schools or the creation of wholly new ones that would be less rule-bound than traditional public schools but more accountable for student achievement. For some charter advocates, simply providing such…

This document represents the second volume of the seventeenth in the series of biennial Science Indicators reports, "Science and Engineering Indicators, 2006." The National Science Board submits this report in accordance with Sec. 4(j)1 of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended. The Science Indicators series was designed to…

A description of the State of Arizona and its educational system is presented as a working paper in a final report by the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness. Facts about the state include the following: indications are that the present growth in Arizona will continue for at least a decade more;…

The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with a general introduction to: (1) the growth of the charter school movement in Ohio since 1998;(2) the reaction of some who oppose this expansion in school choice; and (3) legal and political challenges that need to be met to ensure the sustainability and educational success of the charter…

This paper presents a model of educational production that tries to make sense of recent evidence on effects of institutional arrangements on student performance. In a simple principal-agent framework, students choose their learning effort to maximize their net benefits, while the government chooses educational spending to maximize its net…

One of the working papers in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness, this document presents statistical data on the transition of Arizona's universities, consolidating many ad hoc analyses. It lists selected data that helped identify and develop Task Force issues and describes the…

One of the working papers in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' (ABOR) Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness presents an overview of the State of Arizona ABOR, and university state operating budget request processes. This overview includes a 25-year state funding, productivity, and performance output history of…

As one of the working papers in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness, this document makes a comparison between Arizona's system of higher education and those of other states, in order to place Arizona's higher education efforts in perspective. The number of universities and…

This study looks at the distribution of all 140,000 teachers in 2002-2003 among Illinois' public schools using five teacher attributes that have been shown in previous research to be related to student performance and for which they were able to obtain data--college competitiveness, years of experience, type of credential, performance on the Basic…

This statistically representative survey of 1,203 likely Virginia voters illustrates public opinion on a wide range of K-12 education issues. The underlying purpose of the Friedman Foundation's state surveys is to measure voter knowledge and attitudes toward public institutions and policies, innovative ideas, and the state's K-12 education system.…

The results of a survey of the alumni of the class of 1981 of Arizona's three public universities are presented as part of the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness. A letter and survey form were sent to all alumni in this class, and the response rate was good to excellent. Findings…

One paper in a collection of working papers in the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness, this study includes and explains a survey designed to assess the major factors affecting access and persistence of all students in Arizona's three public universities as perceived by the Students. A randomly…