The proposition that competition will spur public schools to perform better is now familiar to most Americans and self-evident to many. It is a compelling idea. While much attention has focused on student performance in charter schools, a distinct and important policy question relates to how increased competition from charter schools affects the…

The purpose of this study is to examine Knowles' theory of andragogy and his six assumptions of how adults learn while providing evidence to support two of his assumptions based on the theory of andragogy. As no single theory explains how adults learn, it can best be assumed that adults learn through the accumulation of formal and informal…

Traditional public school districts hold a monopoly over the financing and ownership of public education facilities. With rare exceptions, public charter schools have no legal claim to these buildings. This monopoly is an accident of history. It would never have developed had there been substantial numbers of other public schools, not supervised…

The academic success of any school depends on its teachers. However, relatively little research exists on the qualities principals value in teacher hiring, and we know almost nothing about charter school principals' preferences. This article addresses this gap in the literature using survey results for a matched sample of charter and traditional…

In the five years since the first National Education Policy Center (NEPC) "Annual Report on Virtual Education" was released in 2013, virtual education has continued to be a focal point for policymakers. Proponents argue that virtual education can expand student choices and improve the efficiency of public education. In particular,…

Higher education today is being viewed as a tool to achieve prosperity and high living standards. It is thus looked upon as a service to the society and a powerful weapon to change the society for its betterment. Motivation plays a crucial role in learning. Motivation energizes the behavior of the individual. It also directs the behavior towards…

"Charter School Performance in New Jersey" examined whether students in grades 3-8 attending charter schools in New Jersey made more gains in math and reading achievement than similar students attending traditional public schools. Based on an analysis across charter schools, the authors reported that charter school students made…

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for measuring innovation in charter schools. The authors ask two questions: (1) What practices constitute innovation in various local and state contexts?; and (2) Do levels and types of innovation differ between charter schools and traditional public schools? The authors' sample frame includes…

This paper provides the first comparison of principals' preferences for teacher characteristics across traditional public and charter schools. Understanding how charter principals' preferences differ from those of public school principals contributes to scholarship on both teacher labor markets and charter schools. One of the first studies of…

Scant information exists regarding the status of students with disabilities in the charter sector. With the release of the most recent U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools (NCSECS) embraced the opportunity to examine these issues across the universe of…

Open distance learning (ODL) has long been an important option for formal and non-formal education (NFE) in most developed and developing countries, but less so in post-conflict countries, including Cambodia. However, in Cambodia there is now greater awareness that ODL can complement traditional face-to-face educational approaches, particularly as…

In this paper, the authors examine differences between school types in the uses of ability grouping, instructional differences, and relationship of ability grouping to student mathematics achievement. Specifically, they address the following questions with teacher reports of students' mathematics placement in middle school: (1) Does the use of…

This study outlines the current and recent "state of play" in Israeli and Palestinian schools concerning the education of students about "the Other". This is seen to be far from satisfactory. An examination of the complexities involved in learning about "the Other" and of education programmes in other countries that…

Pennsylvania's first cyber charter school opened in 1998, enrolling 44 full-time students. From this modest beginning, Pennsylvania's cyber charter sector has grown to 16 schools enrolling 35,000 students from all but one school district in the Commonwealth. Pennsylvania has one of the nation's most extensive cyber charter sectors, and six…

In this article we analyzed the literature regarding charter schools in the State of Texas. We specifically examined the evolution of the charter school movement in Texas. Moreover, data regarding the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of charter schools in Texas were discussed. Our overview of Texas charter schools, given their widespread presence in…