The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as a corporate leader of a multi-academy trust (MAT) is an emerging new construct of headteacher in England. Core to this position and practice is the construction and membership of specific networks that I conceptualise as "realist." Such networks provide access to privileged policy influencers and…

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…

Classical and Christian education has proliferated across education sectors over the last decade. As a result, school leaders must implement these timeless philosophies of education and navigate such high demand. This dissertation seeks to equip relevant parties with research about what drives their skyrocketing enrollment and how to support…

The charter school movement has been at the forefront of educational reform since the 1990s. The majority of charter school research has focused on academic achievement and issues of access, equity, and funding. Less attention has focused on charter school governance, yet evidence suggests that governance challenges represent a significant…

In Tennessee, a school board member walks into her son's school and starts asking detailed questions about school operations. Is she a concerned parent or an overly intrusive board member? In Missouri, a board member openly criticizes a policy his board colleagues have passed but that he voted against. Is he dutifully representing a constituency…

The Charter School Office has created the Opening Procedures Handbook as a tool to assist charter school founding groups prepare for the exciting, yet challenging, task of opening a Massachusetts public charter school. The Handbook summarizes the opening procedures process, identifies the action items that must be completed prior to the school's…