Purpose: School choice policies are expected to generate competition leading to improvement in school practices. However, little is known about how competition operates in public education--particularly in charter schools. This paper examines charter-school leaders' competitive perception formation and the actions taken in response to competition.…

A key goal of school choice policies is to generate competition between schools, which should theoretically drive school leaders to improve their programs to attract and retain students. However, few studies examine how principals actually perceive and define competition. This article empirically examines school leaders' conceptions of competition…