Today some 5,600 charter schools are in operation, with more than two million students. Some critics persist in a fruitless argument that these schools have failed, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. But regardless of your opinion about them, charter schools are here to stay. Those concerned about public education should quit debating…

Though controversy rages about the overall contribution of charter schools to U.S. education reform, few doubt that a subset of charter schools has achieved extraordinary results with disadvantaged students. Relative to the enormous need for quality education, the number of children served by the best charter schools is far too low. Numerous…

Sometimes a proposed piece of legislation or new rule can catalyze debate about a key issue. That seems to be the case for the "gainful employment" rule currently being proposed by the Department of Education (DOE). The rule addresses a very real problem: The large amounts of debt being taken on by some students, mainly those attending for-profit…

This paper explains how the public education system resists reforms and shows how to make much higher-performing schools available to disadvantaged children. It explains why change is so difficult and why seemingly obvious solutions will not work. The paper also shows how new ideas about teaching, learning, and effective schooling can take…