After more than 10 years into the charter-school movement, a fundamental issue remains to be addressed, according to this paper. The issue reduces the charter movement down to its basic core premise, which is effectiveness. The question for all stakeholders is how effective is the charter-school model. Evaluation within the context of the charter-school movement can be understood to mean the systematic assessment of the charter-school program for the purpose of school improvement. The paper claims that the charter-school evaluation process remains under construction with plenty of work remaining to be done. The paper presents a charter-school evaluation plan with that issue in mind. The plan reflects current best practices of charter-school evaluation. The paper focuses on three areas: (1) the evaluation criteria of the charter school under examination; (2) the relationship of the evaluation process to charter-school effectiveness; and (3) the problems and promises of the charter-school plan. The paper concludes that evaluation should be both formative and summative in scope. The evaluation approach should be manageable and reasonable in dimension and intent, and should address the relational and quantifiable problems. (WFA)