Across OECD countries, education choice is proliferating as parents seek and governments permit choice both inside and outside public education systems. The movement of students out of the common public school, however, varies significantly across jurisdictions and sociodemographic characteristics such as race and class. This variation in…

Prior research suggests that parents of Hispanics, English learners, and students living in poverty exercise school choice less frequently than other parents, which may be a factor in the resegregation of public schools. This quasi-experimental, causal-comparative design tests whether ethnicity, language dominance, or socioeconomic status of the…

In this paper we examine the public charter school movement in the Province of Alberta, Canada over the past 20 years to determine how charter school policy and regulations have limited and controlled the impact of charter schools on public education. Specifically we focus on the extent to which charter schools in Alberta fulfilled the aims and…

This paper provides a descriptive account of the growing landscape of school choice in Canada through a comparative analysis of funding and student enrolment in the public, independent and home-based education sectors in each province. Given that the provinces have responsibility for K-12 education, the mixture of public, independent and home…

For 20 years, charter schools have held a precarious existence in Canada. Implemented in the province of Alberta in 1994, only a handful of charter schools remain in the entire nation. In this article, I explore the ideas of school choice and charter schooling and how they have largely disappeared as educational policy issues for Canadians. While…

Teaching in a democracy is challenging and filled with dilemmas that have no easy answers. For example, how do educators meet their responsibilities of teaching civic norms and dispositions while remaining nonpartisan? "Democratic Discord in Schools" features eight normative cases of complex dilemmas drawn from real events designed to…

Concerned that public schooling leads to mediocrity rather than meritocracy, many middle-class parents are seeking other options such as private schools, alternative public schools, and charter schools to develop their children's academic, creative, and athletic talents. Based on a mixed method investigation of school choice among parents (N =…

This paper considers the establishment of three alternative programs within a school district over time to explore the assumption that such programs reflect families' preferences and that consumer demand dictates their survival. We examine differences in discourses around alternative programs that relate to the type of program and when, why, and…

This report seeks to address critical issues such as these by synthesising the evidence on innovations in more market-driven education systems. The analysis draws on data from over 20 OECD and non-OECD countries, including both developed nations that seek to move beyond established systems of state-run schools, and developing nations where formal…

The rapid expansion of charter schools would suggest that there is evidence of their effectiveness, but this is not the case. The lack of objective evidence of their success reinforces the claim that charter school reforms are political and ideological rather than educational reforms. The arguments in favor of charter schools have exploited some…

In Canada, the United States, and England, educational policies favoring greater parental choice have renewed interest in religion's place in public schools; conversely, religious parents' lobbying for school choice has influenced educational policy. This paper explores change dynamics in Alberta, Canada, focusing on micropolitical program and…

The rapid expansion of charter schools would suggest that there is evidence of their effectiveness, but this is not the case. The lack of objective evidence of their success reinforces the claim that charter school reforms are political and ideological rather than educational reforms. The arguments in favor of charter schools have exploited some…

Describes results from a 3-year study of charter schools in Alberta, Canada. Case studies of Alberta's 12 charter schools (involving document review, interviews, observations, and surveys) indicated that parents, teachers, and students were very satisfied with the schools, and there were steady levels of student enrollment. Most of the schools…

Both the United States and Canadian provinces have moved to enhance educational choice within their educational systems to improve educational productivity. In spite of this similarity of purpose and means, the two nations are taking very different approaches. Most Canadian provinces have moved to full provincial financing of schools and to the…

Alberta's charter-school legislation responds to certain needs of both liberal and republican ideologies. Alberta's experiment indicates that parents are not very dissatisfied with their local schools. Few minority children are attracted, and charter performance has not been stellar. Schools are chosen for their value systems. (Contains 31…