The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between specific leadership behaviors and student achievement in Illinois high schools excluding those within the Chicago Public School System. The leadership behaviors examined in this study include setting direction, developing people, redesigning the organization, and improving the…

Charter schools are public schools governed by an independent board of directors that come into existence through a contract with an authorized public chartering agency. This report, known as the Illinois Charter School Biennial Report, provides legislators, policymakers, educators, and the general public with information regarding the state of…

Charter schools are public schools governed by an independent board of directors that come into existence through a contract with an authorized public chartering agency. This report, known as the Illinois Charter School Biennial Report, provides legislators, policymakers, educators, and the general public with information regarding the state of…

Charter schools are public schools governed by an independent board of directors that come into existence through a contract with an authorized public chartering agency. This report, known as the Illinois Charter School Biennial Report, provides law and policymakers, educators, and the general public with information regarding the state of…

Charter schools are public schools governed by an independent board of directors that come into existence through a contract with an authorized public chartering agency. This report, known as the "Illinois Charter School Biennial Report," provides law and policymakers, educators, and the general public with information regarding the…

This report summarizes the research on the association between state interventions in chronically low-performing schools and student achievement. Most of the research focused on one type of state intervention: working with a turnaround partner. Few studies were identified that examined other types of interventions, such as school closure, charter…

The first charter school law surfaced in Minnesota in 1991, and since then, 42 additional states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have passed laws governing charter schools. Yet still today, the details within those state laws vary significantly, and seven states do not have a law at all. Legislation permitting charter schools was…

Charter schools are public schools governed by an independent board of directors that come into existence through a contract with an authorized public chartering agency. Known as the "Illinois Charter School Biennial Report," this report provides law and policymakers, educators, and the general public with information regarding the state…

During the past decade, Catholic leaders have been exploring options to revitalize the faltering Catholic school system especially in urban centers. One route being explored by dioceses and religious orders is opening what have been called "religious charter schools." Though not technically religious schools, they integrate many of the…

Since the arrival of the first charter school in Minnesota in 1991, charter schools have become one of the largest movements in educational reform. In recent years, research has emerged that has compared the effectiveness of charter schools with their traditional school counterparts. The purpose of this study was to compare the extent of music…

We examine Illinois educational data from standardized exams and analyze primary factors affecting the achievement of public school students. We focus on the simplest possible models: representation of data through visualizations and regressions on single variables. Exam scores are shown to depend on school type, location, and poverty…

Charter schools are publicly-funded educational entities that operate independently from local school districts and are exempt from certain state and local requirements, particularly with regard to teacher personnel policy. In exchange for this flexibility, charter schools are held more accountable for results and may be shut down if they fail to…

As school closures are increasingly used as a remedy to budget woes and a solution to failing schools in many cities, debates are intensifying about their effect on student performance and well-being, on district finances, and on communities and the processes districts use to choose which schools will be shuttered. Student and parent groups in…

The nation's largest school districts have increasingly turned to building closures to address budget deficits, demographic shifts, and the movement of students to charter schools. Over the past decade, 70 large or mid-sized cities closed schools--averaging 11 buildings per closure. This trend shows no signs of slowing. Washington, D.C. closed 23…

The grim statistics are well known, but bear repeating: in Chicago, close to 60% of Black boys do not graduate from high school, and only one in forty receive a bachelor's degree by age 25. In the fall of 2006, Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men-Englewood Campus, the nation's first all-male charter public high school, was opened. In 2010 and…