ERIC Number: EJ1070364
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Jul-26
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1068 2341
EISSN: N/A
Mapping the Profit Motive: The Distinct Geography and Demography of For-Profit Charter Schools
Robertson, W. Brett
Education Policy Analysis Archives, v23 n69 Jul 2015
For-profit charter schools represent a controversial new market-based education reform (Garcia, Barber, & Molnar, 2009; Conn, 2002). This essay explores how schools operated by for-profit corporations differ from those operated by non-profit organizations. Specifically, do for-profit charter schools locate in demographically distinct areas and serve different student populations than similar schools operated by non-profit providers? Research suggests that charter school operators in some districts appear to strategically locate their schools in an effort to exclude certain student populations (Lubienski, Gulosino, & Weitzel, 2009). If charter schools seek to exclude certain students, as these schools proliferate in a district or region there may be an intensifying stratification effect detrimental to the most disadvantaged students (Bifulco, Ladd, & Ross, 2009). This essay undertakes a broad comparative analysis of the neighborhood demographic and student population characteristics of charter schools operated by for-profit corporations and nonprofit organizations, using multilevel modeling and geographic information systems, to compare the two school types across dissimilar state contexts. In so doing, the study seeks to isolate the impact of a school being operated by a forprofit corporation and illuminate what impact the proliferation of for-profit schools might have on the distribution of student populations across regions.
Descriptors: Charter Schools, Proprietary Schools, Demography, School Location, Disadvantaged Youth, Student Characteristics, Comparative Analysis, Models, Geographic Information Systems, Nonprofit Organizations, School Choice, Urban Education, Educational Policy, Social Stratification, Educational Administration, Educational History, State Policy, Predictor Variables, Regression (Statistics), Racial Factors, Socioeconomic Influences, Ownership, Housing, Racial Composition
Colleges of Education at Arizona State University and the University of South Florida. c/o Editor, USF EDU162, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620-5650. Tel: 813-974-3400; Fax: 813-974-3826; Web site: http://epaa.asu.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A