Research Publications
Table of Contents
Accountability
Student Achievement
Charter School Authorizers
Evaluation Studies
Finance and Operations
Governance and leadership
Charter school law and policy
NCLB
Teaching Quality
Other
Accountability
In 2001, Indiana legislation gave the Mayor of Indianapolis the authority to issue charters to create new public schools within Marion County. The first three charter schools authorized by Mayor Bart Peterson opened in fall 2002. Published in 2003 by the Office of the Indianapolis Mayor, Accountability Report on Mayor-Sponsored Charter Schools, provides in-depth information about these three schools based on their first year of operation.
In March of 2003, The Institute for Education and Social Policy published, Charter School Accountability in New York: Findings from a three-year study of Charter School Authorizers. This report examines New York's charter school authorizing and accountability practices by the states three charter school authorizers: the New York State Board of Reagents, the State University of New York, and the New York City Chancellor of Public Schools.
In A Study of Charter School Accountability (2001), researchers studied how school districts, states, universities and special state agencies are learning to oversee charter schools. It contains ways charter school supporters can improve charter school accountability.
Achievement
Eric Hanushek, John Kain and Steven Rivkin addresses the issue of charter schools and student achievement in, The Impact of Charter Schools on Academic Achievement (2002). This paper provides a preliminary investigation into the quality of charter schools and finds that the average school quality in the charter sector is not significantly different from that in regular public schools after the initial start-up period.
The 2003 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well are American Students Learning (Chapter 3-Charter Schools), from the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institute, examined test score data over a three-year period at ninety education management organizations (EMOs)-managed charter schools in ten states, sixty-two of which are located in Michigan. Tom Loveless, author of the report, found that from 2000 to 2002, charter schools run by EMOs made greater gains in student achievement than other charter schools. Charters run by EMOs typically target low-achieving students. But Loveless found that EMO-operated charters registered sold gains in test scores from 2000 to 2002, significantly out-gaining non-EMO charter schools with similar demographics.
Authorizers
At a Brookings Brown Center press briefing on February 18 2004, Bryan C. Hassel, the president of Public Impact, an education policy consulting firm, presented new research on how charter school authorizers are making high-stakes decisions about school renewal and revocation in High-Stakes: Findings from a National Study of Life-or-Death Decisions by Charter School Authorizers. This study provides new information about how charter school authorizers are carrying out their responsibilities, the factors that influence their approaches, and the implications of their policy experiences.
In February 2004, The National Association of Charter School Authorizers published a report entitled, When It Really Matters: Charter Renewal Decisions at the State University of New York. This issues brief examines three recent charter school renewal decisions of the State University of New York (SUNY).
In, Charter School Authorizing: Are States Making the Grade? , published by the Fordham Foundation, researchers examine how well states policy environments are supporting effective schools and authorizers.
Evaluation Studies
Charter School Operations and Performance: Evidence from California (2003) from the RAND Corporation, examines four research questions: Who attends charter schools? How does student achievement in charter schools compare to student achievement in traditional schools? What sort of oversight do chartering authorities provide? How do charter schools differ from conventional schools in terms of operation?
Apple to Apples: An Evaluation of Charter Schools Serving General Student Populations (July, 2003) from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, compares test scores at charter schools to those of students in traditional public schools.
Finance and Operations
Charter School Funding Issues, from Stephen Sugarman in Education Policy Analysis Archives, examines how the funding of regular public schools is effecting charter school funding. It also examines how charter school funding impacts charter schools on the whole and the type of students they enroll.
New Charter Schools Across the Country and in the District of Columbia Face Similar Start-Up Challenges (September 2003), from the United States General Accounting Office, concludes that securing a facility, obtaining start-up funding, and acquiring the expertise necessary to run a charter schools are the three greatest challenges facing new charter school founders nationwide.
Governance and Leadership
No articles at this time
Charter School Law and Policy
The Center for Education Reform publishes an annual report ranking and rating the nation's 41 charter school laws. Charter School Laws Across the States: Rankings and Scorecard: 8th Edition was published in February of 2004.
For more information on charter school laws across the country visit, CharterSchooLaw.com
No Child Left Behind
Nelson Smith from the Education Commission of the States examines No Child Left Behind and its' implications for and effects on charter schools. Two Years and Counting: Charter Schools Under No Child Left Behind - "In the two years since its enactment, NCLB has brought both satisfaction and apprehension to charter schools. On the one hand, NCLB largely adopts the high-stakes charter model as an accountability framework for all public schools. At the same time, NCLB has complicated the accountability relationship between charter schools and their authorizers. This paper looks at how NCLB has begun affecting the American charter school community, and points toward both the promising and worrisome signs on the horizon."
In, Charter Schools and the Teaching Quality Provisions of No Child Left Behind, Nelson Smith from the Education Commission of the States examines the effect NCLB has on teachers in charter schools. Will No Child Left Behind impede the flexibility charter schools have when it comes to hiring teachers? This paper examines the "highly qualified" provision of NCLB and what may lay ahead for charter schools.
Teaching Quality
In, Charter Schools and the Teaching Quality Provisions of No Child Left Behind, Nelson Smith from the Education Commission of the States examines the effect NCLB has on teachers in charter schools. Will No Child Left Behind impede the flexibility charter schools have had when it comes to hiring teachers? This paper examines the "highly qualified" provision of NCLB and what may lay ahead for charter schools.
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