The charter-school idea has spread rapidly across the United States. One-half of the states have adopted charter-school laws since 1991, and legislatures in other states have given the idea careful consideration. This paper explores the political factors that shape charter-school laws. The paper utilizes the policy-innovation-diffusion framework…

As of November 1996, at least 25 states had passed charter-school legislation empowering agencies of state government to enter into agreements with private individuals and groups to operate public schools. This is a guidebook for government agencies given the power to permit individuals and groups to operate autonomous public schools under state…

This 5-year study is evaluating the Public Charter Schools Program (PCSP), a federal effort to help charter schools meet planning, startup, and early implementation costs. It is gathering local, state, and federal information about the program, documenting the evolution of the charter school movement. Researchers are studying the operations and…

This paper is a report on a study of the effect of charter schools on both students attending them and students in neighboring public schools in Michigan. Using school-level data from Michigan's standardized testing program, the study compared changes in tests scores between charter and public school students. The data included annual math and…

This book presents 15 papers on charters, vouchers, and public education: (1) "Introduction: A New Direction in Public Education?" (Paul E. Peterson and David E. Campbell); (2) "Charter Schools: Taking Stock" (Chester E. Finn, Jr, Bruno V. Manno, and Gregg Vanourek); (3) "School Choice in Michigan" (Michael Mintrom…

Central Missouri State University faculty forged partnerships with teachers in urban charter schools in Kansas City in an effort to ensure that early childhood teacher candidates' field experiences would take place in school environments with diverse populations of students. During the spring 2001 semester, early childhood teacher candidates were…

With the increasing demand for better schools, states and communities are providing more options to families. By doing so, they are not only improving educational opportunity for those children, but also having a dramatic impact on how schools operate in their communities. The most important options are full school-choice programs, charter…

This monograph on charter schools and reform contains four chapters. The first chapter ("The Unfinished Goal and the Role of Interest Groups") discusses the history of the charter movement, its role, benefits, shortcomings, and the opposition to the movement from teacher unions. Charter schools have attracted support across the political spectrum…

This paper reviews how the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) will operate regarding different groups of students and schools, examining factors that could delay or dilute its guarantee of educational accountability for the academic achievement of all children. It discusses such issues as: what kinds of tests must be used and when, who must…

There is an increasingly popular view of government to shift costs of education formerly borne at the national level to the states, and the states, in turn to shift costs and risks to individuals that has created a "perfect storm" of economic and political trends. The idea of privatizing a portion of Social Security and the continuing press for…

School choice advocates made many advances in 1994, and many states seem ready to pass school choice legislation in 1995. This report describes the state of school choice efforts in the individual states. School choice advocates look for action by the Federal Government as Congress discusses ways to help states implement choice, whether by…

Many Canadian provinces are looking to Alberta for guidance about charter schools. This case study examines the closure of one charter school to identify the obstacles other schools may face. This study uses critical policy analysis and the "politics of interpretation" to examine the political context of educational policy issues. While…

This final report discusses the outcomes of a study that examined how charter school developers have used the opportunities provided by their charters to serve students with disabilities. Between March 1998 and June 1999, 32 public charter schools in 15 states were visited and 151 parents of students with disabilities, 196 teachers, and 164…

The most important burden of charter schools is the need to demonstrate that the instruction they provide actually benefits students. They can hire their own teachers, make their own tradeoffs between spending on administration and teaching, locate anywhere in the community, and let parents know in advance what a child must do to succeed in the…

An Arizona study examined whether charter schools contribute to the racial/ethnic segregation of students in publicly funded schools. Data included Arizona school enrollment data for 1996, 1998, and 2002; school addresses for 2002 charter schools; and other relevant information specific to charter schools, obtained from the Arizona Department of…