Across Arizona and the United States, there is widespread interest in how to successfully educate the growing number of English language learner students in K-12 schools. Research suggests that a school may face challenges in effectively teaching its English language learner students--and closing the achievement gap with native English…

One of the key claims of choice advocates is that it will take diverse schooling options to engage all children in learning. In a school system truly open to new providers of instruction and diverse schooling options, private schools and public schools of choice can vie for customers by trying different subject themes and pedagogies. If a school's…

Many educational researchers have identified issues on classifying schools and some have made use of ad-hoc classification systems in their analyses; however, these solutions are generally one-dimensional, which prohibits them from capturing the full breadth of variation among schools. To understand the amount of variation that exist in schools…

This policy study examined the differences in student achievement scores in reading and mathematics in selected public middle schools of choice and in traditional public middle schools with similar demographics and socioeconomic characteristics in a southeastern school district in North Carolina during the 1997-1998, 1998-1999, and 1999-2000…

Education reform often appears a zero-sum battle, one that pits crusaders demanding accountability and choice against much of the traditional education establishment, including teachers unions. The political skirmishes in Florida, including court fights over vouchers and charter schools, and ongoing struggles over a parade of different merit pay…

This study examined the reasons that four high school students who had previously refused to attend school willingly attended an alternative K-12 school for students with special needs. The two research questions that framed this study were (a) why do students who refused to attend their regular schools willingly attend Brookfield Park? and (b) in…

Since the passage of the first Charter School Law in Minnesota in 2001, there have been many studies that have examined the effect of Charter schools on student achievement with very mixed results. The Missouri legislature passed legislation in 1998 permitting the establishment of charter schools in a metropolitan school district or in an urban…

Most research on charter schools, and the most intense public debate over their desirability, has focused on the impact of these new schools on the students who attend them. But charter proponents also hope that the threat of students' leaving will spur traditional schools to higher levels of achievement. In the long run, such system-wide…

Reports on research conducted during 1973-1975 on the attitudes, views, and roles of 11 open and 11 traditional principals in the New York City public schools. (Author/AM)

States that alternative public schools are a viable option, and provides an overview of the range of opportunities provided by such schools. (Editor)

A Statements about Schools Inventory was used to assess the attitudes of teachers and students about the degree to which alternative and conventional high schools meet the needs in Maslow's hierarchy. Results showed that alternative school environments are more conducive to the satisfaction of basic human needs. (SK)

Examines factors influencing choice of a new school, using data from a large-scale study in Wales. The "domino effect" sometimes covers three generations; decisions made today reflect, but are not identical to, past decisions. Simple reproduction cannot explain this diversity. Consumer nostalgia may lead schools to conservatism and…

A random sample of 200 charter schools that had been in operation for at least 3 years was chosen from the National Charter School Directory. Charter schools were sent a survey of personnel policies. When 132 charter schools responded, the information was compared to a random sampling of traditional schools. In the seven states covered by the…

It would be kind to say that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) was dawdling in its analysis of the data on charter schools that were collected by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). ED collected the data with the regular NAEP assessment in 2003 and placed the regular data on its website in the fall of 2003. The American…