This article discusses how alternative schools, depending on local and state policies, do and do not operate as schools of choice. A case scenario describes a difficult situation for an at-risk young adult. Additionally, the referral process under which many alternative schools function is described. (Contains 8 notes.)

Recent concerns over the efficacy of vouchers arise largely from a failure to distinguish between different types of school choice efforts: targeted vouchers, aimed at rescuing children from failing schools, and universal vouchers, aimed at systemic reform of the public school system. It is unreasonable to expect a targeted voucher program to…

This article describes the process of developing an indicator system that goes beyond a single indicator of school progress or performance. The system relies on a set of school indicators that uses data that public schools routinely report to state agencies for compliance purposes. The framework for the indicator system is based on the idea of…

This paper examines the relationship between policy, organizational type, and the utilization of extrinsic incentives. Charter school reform spread throughout the country in the 1990s, providing the unique opportunity to study over a thousand new public organizations and the innovative operational decisions they made. Traditional public schools…

Efforts to introduce school choice have produced pressures on public schools to improve their performance. As a result, many public schools have embraced the total quality management principle of continuous improvement. In this article we explain that while this may be well intentioned, it may have perverse unintended consequences. A likely…

State residential schools specializing in mathematics and science are schools of choice for gifted young people who are interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Fourteen states have such schools supported by state funding. These schools offer educational opportunities for high school young people who are…

School-within-a-school programs are an alternative school choice that can provide differentiated learning opportunities for academically gifted students, but they are often politically contentious. In a recent study, we interviewed 530 students and teachers in gifted and regular streams in three publicly funded secondary schools with different…

This study examined the perceptions of teachers and students during the first year of implementation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program at a high school. The research team interviewed all IB teachers and students regarding their decision to teach/enroll in IB; how IB differed from teaching/taking regular courses; and other…

This study compares achievement levels for high ability students attending charter schools and students in traditional public schools in Georgia. Researchers examined student achievement (as assessed by the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests) using three comparison groups: students in the closest traditional schools with similar grade…

Concerned that public schooling leads to mediocrity rather than meritocracy, many middle-class parents are seeking other options such as private schools, alternative public schools, and charter schools to develop their children's academic, creative, and athletic talents. Based on a mixed method investigation of school choice among parents (N =…

The issue of school choice and its effects on student performance have become a prevalent part of the educational landscape. This longitudinal investigation examines a group of students not typically associated with the school choice movement: high ability or "gifted" students. The study analyzed whether attending a private school through…

Fifty years after the "Brown" decision, and in the context of persistent racial and economic segregation and inequality in schooling, it is still important to examine "Brown"'s legacy. In this focus on school choice, the rhetoric and the ways in which the legacy of "Brown" has been emphatically invoked in charter school and voucher debates is…

Charter laws have been the reform debate's path of least resistance. But the combination of regulatory barriers, open admissions, lack of consumer sovereignty, preferential funding of traditional public schools, and political control of prices means that charter laws may be irrelevant as reform catalysts, or worse. Even the strongest charter laws…

School vouchers, particularly since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Cleveland program, are one of the most contentious issues in American education. Seemingly contradictory results across available studies have caused confusion among diverse audiences. The authors suggest that these divergent findings are, in part, due to three…

Virtually all state charter school legislation addresses teacher rights and working environment. Relationships with teacher unions are either specified in the law, or approval of the charter requires suitable provisions for employee hiring, firing, grievances, etc. Charter school evaluation almost without exception includes some references to…