Charter schools in urban environments have been scrutinized for their effectiveness. This study attempted to determine whether students attending Midwestern urban charter schools outperformed students in traditional schools on the state's accountability system over a 5-year time period. Using a quasi-experimental research design, data were…

In this article, we use originally collected survey data to determine how nonprofit charter school board members in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota define accountability. We find that charter board members generally define accountability downward toward student achievement and staff performance, inward toward board performance, or…

For-profit educational management organizations (EMOs) are a growing phenomenon in public education, and they are an integral part of charter school reform in many states. Research suggests that charter schools operated by for-profit entities may take a more entrepreneurial approach when expanding their operations and thus may be more inclined to…

In the current climate of high-stakes accountability created under the No Child Left Behind legislation, public schools, including charter schools, are under tremendous pressure to show consistent improvement in student achievement for all students. Students with disabilities present unique challenges to schools attempting to meet Adequate Yearly…

This article reviews educational initiatives of state and federal government that were designed to remedy the effects of racial segregation on Black public school students in the United States after the famous "Brown v. Board of Education" decisions. Several policy and legal initiatives are reviewed, including school desegregation,…

This article presents a study that explores the relationship between charter schools and teacher autonomy. The theoretical framework is based on the charter school concept, whereby three policy levers--choice, deregulation, and accountability--lead to various goals for the charter school. One of the first and foremost of these is the enhancement…

Explores various dimensions of charter school accountability, using three models of educational accountability (bureaucratic, performance, and market) as a basis for assessing state policies on charter school accountability in Arizona, Kansas, and Minnesota, and noting that states place varying degrees of emphasis on these three forms of…

Suggests that more attention should be given to those charged with granting school charters, discussing different types of charter school authorizers (school districts, state boards or departments of education, other existing public entities, and new public boards created to serve as authorizers). Describes the roles and responsibilities of…

Examines difficulties in developing clear charter school standards, capacity, and expertise, recognizing the charter school movement as the conflation of several sometimes contradictory ideas; discussing tensions between competing versions of charter schooling; considering four modifications that could render charter regulation more effective; and…

Asserts that accountability in charter schools is largely a political issue and not a technical, instrumental question as the rhetoric suggests. Drawing on Texas student performance data and interviews with key state policymakers, the paper concludes that viewing accountability in charter schools as a technical issue ignores the larger political…

Examines the daily responsibilities and challenges of leadership in charter schools, presenting results from a survey of charter school principals in Colorado. Most respondents had prior experiences as a principal or in a related position in a traditional school. Many also had formal training in educational leadership. Results suggest that most…

Surveyed teachers in traditional public and charter schools in Colorado and Michigan to examine differences in their perceptions of empowerment (specifically, decision making and autonomy). Results found no significant differences between the groups in perceptions of autonomy. Teachers in traditional schools believed they had more opportunities to…

Explores Georgia's charter school policy, arguing that pairing charter schools with accountability in policy discourse attempts to make more palatable a system that is increasingly controlled by the center. State accountability systems limit innovation by forcing everyone to work within system constraints. The centralizing effects of…