This book investigates the strengths and limitations of charter schools as an approach to reform by focusing on the day-to-day reality of students, teachers, administrators, and parents involved. Detailed case studies of seven schools are included. Seymour Sarason's work on the creation of settings provides the lens through which these schools are examined. The book is comprised of nine chapters: (1) "Charter School: Redefining a Social Contract?"; (2) "The "Prehistory" of Charter Schools"; (3) "Pioneering Change: The Experiences of Three Colorado Charter Schools" (Susan Korach); (4) "Politics Versus the Best of Intentions: A Case Study of a School-University Collaboration" (Catharine T. Perry); (5) "Beating the Odds in the Inner City: Wesley Elementary Becomes a Charter School"; (6) "Understanding the Complexities of Success in the Making of a New Setting: Case Study of the University of Houston Charter School of Technology" (Barbara Korth); (7) "Behind the Rhetoric: The Agony, the Ecstasy of Being First"; (8) "Building a Theoretical Framework: Commonalities and Contrasts"; and (9) "Beyond the Economics and Politics: Charter Schools as Mediating Institutions." This book is important reading for anyone interested in charter schools, particularly individuals who are contemplating the establishment of charter schools, school practitioners, and professors and students in teacher or administrator preparation programs. (RT)