In 1991, Massachusetts passed an interdistrict choice law that gave parents the option of enrolling their child in any district they selected. Six years later, David Armor and Brett Peiser conducted a study to examine the social, racial, and financial impact of the choice program on participating districts, and to determine if the thesis behind…

Selections in this book, which grew from a seminar at New York University between 1994 and 1996, discuss the recent educational innovations of charter schools, contracting arrangements, and choice that are designed to liberate educators and raise the levels of opportunity for all students. The essays, which focus on the urban experience, explore…

American Indian children have the poorest academic performance among public school students. Reasons include poverty, racism, cultural incompatibility, low teacher expectations, high student mobility, lack of American Indian teachers, communication and learning differences, and cultural bias in standardized tests. New Mexico initiatives to improve…

This yearbook's focus is the connection between state responsibility and local control. Its purpose is to analyze the evolving balance between state responsibility for funding K-12 education and local autonomy in operating these schools. The goals of this analysis are twofold; the book seeks to characterize how this relationship has changed, both…

This newsletter includes five articles about educational and school policies, primarily related to equality of educational opportunity. "Texas Legislature Considers Much for Education, Accomplishes Little" (Albert Cortez, Anna Alicia Romero) summarizes educational legislation considered by the Texas legislature in the session ending in…

"Snapshot '97," the 10th edition of this publication, provides information about students, student performance, staffing, and the financing of Texas public school districts. This annual summary is a useful source of information for anyone interested in the demographics of Texas schools, the resources available, and the improvements that…

Author and advocate for public school reform Herbert Kohl discusses vouchers; charter schools; home schooling; national academic standards; high stakes testing; the role of the arts, storytelling, and fun in education; countering school failure; and the importance of developing teacher communities that cut across public, private, and home school…

This paper asserts that central to the debate over excellence and equity in education is the shifting nature of authority over public education in the schools and school districts of Greater Boston, Massachusetts, noting that the autonomy that local school districts have historically exercised is fading, if not gone. The 1993 Massachusetts…

In 2001, the Pennsylvania Department of Education contracted with Western Michigan University to evaluate Pennsylvania's charter schools and charter school initiative over two years. The study used site visits, work sample review, document review, focus groups, portfolios and surveys to gather data regarding the movement's effectiveness, progress,…

The eight schools profiled in this document are serving different populations, but all of them are closing the achievement gap between low-income, minority, and special needs students and their peers. By trying out innovative new strategies, these schools are blazing a trail for others to follow. They are dispelling the myth that some students can…

The purpose of this document is to provide operators with implementation and operational technical assistance related to special education in charter schools. Special education is a very complicated component of public education and providing operators with technical assistance regarding special education is particularly challenging. This primer…