Milwaukee's system of K-12 public education is distinct from many other urban school systems in the degree of educational choices offered to students and their families. This range of options has fostered intense competition among Milwaukee's K-12 schools over the past decade. While enrollment in traditional Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) has…

In recent years, competition for K-12 enrollment in Wisconsin among traditional public schools, charter schools, and private schools using the state's voucher programs has intensified. Because elementary and secondary education finance in the state primarily is driven by enrollment, this has presented increasingly difficult fiscal conditions for…

This research aimed to examine students' perceptions of their life skills while attending project-based learning (PBL) schools. The study focused on three questions including: (1) What are students' perceptions of their development of life skills in project-based learning schools?; (2) In what ways, if any, do students perceive an increase in…

All public school children are entitled to quality public educational facilities--including those who attend public charter schools. Yet charter school leaders often spend substantial time and money searching for a facility. When they find one, they encounter significant costs associated with leasing or purchasing the building. They may have to…

In a decade and a half, the charter school movement has gone from a glimmer in the eyes of a few Minnesota reformers to a maturing sector of America's public education system. Now, like all 15-year-olds, chartering must find its own place in the world. First, advocates must answer a fundamental question: What type of relationship should the…

Across the U.S., urban school districts are losing students and shuttering schools. In Detroit, some 35,000 students have left the city schools in less than a decade, and the city will close 34 schools and reassign more than 10,000 students in 2006. However, the trend is not limited to Rust Belt cities like Detroit, although their problems tend to…

This bimonthly newsletter provides information about the progress of the Honor States Grant Program, a governor-led effort to improve college--and work-ready graduation rates. This issue spotlights the "supply-side" of high school redesign, exploring how state policymakers are working to expand the supply of high-quality high schools.…

During the 2001-02 school year, the Cargill Foundation and Minnesota Humanities Commission invited elementary schools and preschools in Minneapolis and its suburbs to apply for three-year grant funding to introduce the Core Knowledge curriculum in their schools. In the first year of implementation, the different contexts of the six participating…

This periodical provides accessible, in-depth profiles of programs and policies that have made measurable differences in the lives of children and families. A particular focus is on initiatives that have helped reform child-serving institutions and systems and that have strengthened the physical infrastructure, economic vitality, and social fabric…