The aim of the present study was to develop and examine the initial psychometrics of an instrument, the Charter School Teacher Development Inventory (CSTDI), designed to measure the professional development opportunities available in U.S. charter schools. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that the CSTDI was comprised of five factors:…

This study aimed to address the growing problem in education, the need to retain highly qualified teachers in the classroom. Beyond the task of just filling positions, experienced teachers bring unique skills to the school, making them better instructors (Melnick & Meister, 2008). This is a challenging topic; roughly 29% of teachers who left…

Teacher turnover is high in US public schools, and it is growing. Such turnover has academic and financial costs, but little is known about the impact on teachers themselves. How do teachers experience turnover? Using interviews of departed teachers and focus groups of new and veteran teachers, this qualitative multi-site case study examines how…

In their nascent stages, charter schools formed under competing ideologies. In academic circles, charter schools were envisioned as pedagogical laboratories that would allow for educator- and community-driven school improvement. In other circles, charter schools emerged as a free-market reform driven by accountability, choice, and growth. Amid the…

Teachers' emotional experiences at work have important implications for both teachers and students, particularly during challenging behavioral interactions. Understanding how teachers conceptualize the role of their workplace emotions can help school leaders and researchers develop policies and interventions to support teachers in navigating the…

This paper explores how the charter school sector evaluates the success of specialized education programs in order that the Nature School can learn from these best practices and develop its own framework. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with five evaluation experts and eight diverse charter school authorizers overseeing a significant…

The tendency of charter schools to increase school segregation has been well established, but less is known about what school administrators perceive as the mechanisms causing segregation among charters and traditional public schools. Using the results of exploratory surveys of North Carolina charter school directors and district superintendents,…

Parents, students, administrators and teachers all make a choice to be a part of a charter school. Since 1991 when the first charter school in the United States opened, charter schools have grown. As of 2018 over 3.3 million students across the United States attend charter schools and the projection for growth continues. In spite of making up the…

Professional learning should be designed in a way that is responsive to the needs of teachers and intentionally planned with adult learning principles in mind. This article outlines one practitioner's professional journey to redefine how professional learning is designed with best practices in adult learning in mind. Strategies utilized during…

Using student-level data, we analyze the post-secondary enrollment of high school graduates across 29 states from an online charter provider from 2017 to 2020. We estimate the association between virtual charter student characteristics and the likelihood of college enrollment. We find that students who enroll multiple years in the virtual school…

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…

Principals and superintendents operating in high-choice environments are often faced with enrollment challenges as they compete for students. This case study examines the experience of a principal at Crossroads Elementary--a high-performing, culturally responsive, and innovative traditional public school that struggles to retain many of its older…

This article investigates students' engagement with a historical inquiry into redlining--a practice of discriminatory lending that originated in the 1930s as part of the New Deal. The authors developed and implemented a week-long curricular intervention for high school sophomores using StoryQ--an Artificial Intelligence (AI) textual modeling…

A quality learning space provides students with an optimal environment for social relations, collaborative work and participation, thus fostering innovation and incorporating active methodologies. The aim of this study is to analyze whether the design of existing learning environments is suitable for incorporating innovation in classrooms. The…

Each year, millions of students with disabilities receive special education services. The development of an individual education program (IEP) is an important function in determining what services are provided. The IEP is the product of a collaborative effort between stakeholders, including the student (Barnard-Brak & Lechtenberger, 2010).…