The portfolio management models (PMM) has emerged as an important idea in educational governance over the last decade. In PMM systems, a district or other form of authorizer oversees a collection of independent organizations that operate schools according to their particular philosophy and strategic orientation. Yet underlying the design of PMMs…

One common expectation of school choice policies is that they will generate competition between schools. Despite the large body of work examining whether competition improves student outcomes, we know less about how competition works in the educational sector. We know even less about how charter school leaders perceive and respond to competitive…

This paper aims to explore educational markets literarily -- in situ -- at quite unique 'real' market places, where buyers and sellers of educational commodities meet and negotiate values and preferences. Thus, the place we chose for this study was some of the 'school fairs' held in huge exhibition halls all over Sweden every year. At these fairs…

This study explores the differences in management and operation of schools operated by either for-profit or nonprofit education management organizations (EMOs). Particular attention is given to differences in curriculum, student demographics, location, and academic performance. The study addresses three fundamental questions (1) "Does the…

On February 2, 2010, the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings and a task force composed of leading education policy experts released proposals on how to expand school choice to increase equity and create a market within the public sector for school quality. The first of a series of Brown Center reports on rethinking the federal role in…

This paper describes the United States' first public voucher program, which was launched in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1990. It discusses the three phases that school competition has undergone in the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) district. These phases are a period of minimal competition from 1990-95, the passage of new charter-school legislation…

The emphasis in recent British educational legislation (primarily the 1988 Education Act) has been on the creation of an "internal market" to stimulate improvements in educational outcomes and provide efficiency and accountability. The internal market mechanism allows schools to manage their own budgets and personnel and to create…

Parents have the legal right to send their children to private schools. This paper presents findings of a survey that compared the opinions of sitting school board presidents (n=1,500) with those of Chamber of Commerce executives (n=1,300) across the United States. The survey asked each group about their attitudes toward charter schools,…

This paper examines the impact on small rural school districts of school choice programs available in Minnesota. An opening section traces the history of school choice in Minnesota since 1983, focusing on two programs enacted in 1990: enrollment options (EO), which allows students to attend any public school without cost, and postsecondary…

Prior school-choice studies have focused on parents and students who opt to choose, neglecting nonchoosers, or those remaining behind. A study of 37 Minnesota school districts (20 gaining student population and 17 losing student population due to choice options in fiscal year 1995) explores the relationship between school-choice implementation and…

This paper is for policymakers, advocates, and analysts who understand that the issues surrounding the introduction of more market-based mechanisms into education are complex and who accept the view that evidence is useful in sorting out the issues. It uses the market framework of demand, supply, and market pricing to organize the extensive but…

On January 31, 1996, Pioneer Institute Executive Director James A. Peyser delivered an address to the Boston Economic Club, in which he proposed radical reforms to the structure of public education. This publication contains an edited transcript of the speech. The speech argues that after 30 years of stagnation and decline, only fundamental…

This study examined how eight rural, high-impact Minnesota school districts (defined as those losing or gaining a high percentage of student population due to school-choice implementation in fiscal year 1995) responded to school choice policy. Data from semistructured interviews with each district's superintendent were sorted and analyzed. In each…

The findings of a pilot study of Pennsylvania's School Performance Incentive (SPI) program are presented in this report. School level incentive policies as elements of the entrepreneurial context of educational restructuring and an organizational model for an incentive-based merit system are also discussed. The study examines the effect of SPI on…