Community identity discourse and the heritage academy: colorblind educational policy and white supremacy

This study focuses on the case of The Heritage Academy (THA), a predominantly white charter school in rural North Carolina. Through a critical race analysis, this article suggests that predominantly white charter schools like THA benefit from colorblind educational policies in a whitestream and white supremacist society. Specifically, this case study focuses on how white community activism around the creation of THA strengthened a community school identity discourse founded on the principles of whiteness as property. Because of the privilege of whiteness, predominantly white and middle‐class charter schools like THA may have greater access to economic and symbolic resources that ensure their success. This article raises questions about the use of school choice rhetoric as a raceless metaphor in the charter school movement that may result in race‐based inequality, separation and segregation.     

The Revolution Will Be Privatized: Teach For America and Charter Schools

This article examines the ways that the charter school movement is experienced and negotiated by educators who entered the profession through Teach For America (TFA). TFA’s impact has been significant in the larger educational trend towards market-based reforms and, in particular, the charter school movement. Analyzed through a critical theory lens that focuses on issues of power and on the ways individuals interact amid larger (and often distal) structural forces, the experiences of TFA corps members are situated within the larger changing context of education. Amid contested, fractured, and complex narratives about charter school reform, TFA’s idea of “relentless pursuit” shaped participants’ conceptions and actions around charter schools.     

试论美国特许学校的新型绩效责任制度

特许学校是美国近十年发展起来的一种新型公立学校形式。本文在介绍绩效责任理论含义和特许学校运动发展的基础上,从“立法”和“特许”的角度论述了特许学校新型的绩效责任制度,并结合图表分析了它与传统公立学校绩效责任的差异,最后简单说明了特许学校是如何发展内外部绩效责任的。     

Achievement and Climate Outcomes for the Knowledge is Power Program in an Inner-City Middle School

This study was designed to examine the effects of a whole school reform, the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), specifically designed to raise academic achievement of at-risk urban middle school students by establishing an extended school day and year, a rigorous curriculum, after-school access to teachers, and increased family-school connections. In our mixed-methods design, qualitative (interview and observation) and quantitative (survey and achievement test) measures are employed to determine first-year program implementation and student outcomes for the KIPP:DIAMOND (Daring Individual Achievers Making Outstanding New Dreams) Academy (KIPP:DA), an inner-city school in a large, high-poverty urban district. For the achievement analyses, 49 KIPP:DA students were individually matched to highly comparable control students of the same ethnicity, socioeconmic status, gender, and ability, who attended different district schools in the same neighborhood. Statistically significant and educationally meaningful advantages for KIPP:DA students were found on 4 out of 6 standardized tests. The achievement results are interpreted in relation to the key program elements, the positive school climate established, and the quality of the 1st-year implementation.     

Federal precedents and the origins of the charter school movement in Florida,USA, 1981–1996

After four years of failed attempts, lawmakers in the State of Florida sanctioned charter schools in 1996. This paper traces the political origins of the charter school movement in Florida and the USA as a whole. Examining legislation and reforms at the federal level, as well as state legislative proceedings, this paper identifies key political precedents. Nationally, the privatisation initiatives of the federal government created a climate conducive to charter school programmes. In Florida, a dual educational emphasis on local operational autonomy and accountability to the state appeared in the early 1990s, which paved the way for charter school legislation. By 1996, new federal charter school programmes solidified bipartisan support in Florida for this particular brand of school choice.     

美国特许学校改革与教育公平研究

特许学校改革是美国择校运动发展到近期出现的教育改革运动,是美国公立教育改革的重要组威部分.然而从美国第一所特许学校诞生的那天起,特许学校就受到来自各方面的争议,其中最大的担忧就是改革可能造成教育的分化与不公.本文从社会学视角出发,指出经过近20年发展,特许学校一方面促成了基于不同教育理念的社会分化,另一方面也更好地满足了不同社会群体的教育需求.特许学校改革的复杂性和未来的不确定性对我国教育改革有一定的启发意义.     

Two decades of charter schools: Expectations,reality, and the future

The first charter school law was passed in Minnesota in 1991 and with it, a new school reform movement began. After two decades, 41 states and Washington D.C. have adopted charter legislation. This special issue provides an opportunity for scholars to reflect upon the promises and limitations of charter schools and to offer policy advice for those in a position to influence future reforms. Together, the papers within this special issue examine the achievement effects of charter schools, their cost effectiveness, the competitive pressure created by charter schools, the degree to which charter schools are innovative and how some of the operational and policy features of charter schools may affect outcomes.     

Special Education in American Charter Schools: State level policy,practices and tensions

The US charter school movement is based upon the supposition that granting individual public schools increased autonomy from state and district rules and regulations in exchange for more accountability will foster the creation of innovative, effective and efficient schools. However, while state charter school laws free these schools from various state and district rules and regulations, the schools must still operate within the civil rights parameters legislated by federal statutes. Of particular import are federal laws that guarantee that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education. Project SEARCH, a 3 year qualitative study of special education in US charter schools revealed that there is a fundamental philosophical gap between the individualised, autonomous nature of charter schools and the highly regulated nature of special education. The philosophical gap is complicated by some charter schools' inability to amass the fiscal and human capacity needed to meet the needs of individual children with disabilities.     

The Institutional Landscape of Interest Group Politics and School Choice

This article provides an updated analysis of the institutional and organizational landscape surrounding the advocacy of and opposition to vouchers and other forms of school choice over the past decade at federal/national, state, and local levels. The politics of choice grew far more complex during the 1990s, with Republican control of Congress and the White House, the growth of the national charter school movement, congressional passage of pilot voucher programs, and the Supreme Court's 2002 Zelman v. Simmons-Harris ruling. Utilizing an Advocacy Coalition Framework, questions about the ideological motivations behind different forms of school choice, the particular programs that certain groups are likely to support or oppose, and the strategies—including the potential alliances and coalitions—that are increasingly employed around school choice policy are explored. A framework for understanding and analyzing policymaking in this area is offered, extending existing thinking on both school choice issues and education policy more generally.     

Charter schools: learning from the past, planning for the future

Charter schools have garnered strong support over the past decade, however, opponents question this choice option on many grounds, including their effectiveness, accountability, equity, and sustainability. This paper addresses these concerns by synthesizing what we know from the literature on charter schools, exposing areas where evidence is lacking, conflicting or ambiguous, and assessing the overall maturation of charter school reform. To help answer the question of sustainability, we draw in part on findings from our in-progress, long-term case study of a conversion charter school. This ethnographic data reveals the existence of serious challenges for researchers and policymakers, but also provides useful guidance for the future direction of the charter school movement.     

An Institutional Theory Analysis of Charter Schools: Addressing Institutional Challenges to Scale

This article presents a conceptual framework derived from institutional theory in sociology that offers two competing policy contexts in which charter schools operate—a bureaucratic frame versus a decentralized frame. An analysis of evolving charter school types based on three underlying theories of action is considered. As charter school leaders pursue new and different forms of schooling, they are challenged by well-established bureaucratic rules and norms that define what it means to be a legitimate school. Microlevel institution-building efforts, however, may represent viable alternatives to the institutional order of public education as charter school leaders attempt to achieve scale.     

Media's Impact on Educational Policies and Practices: Political Spectacle and Social Control

Cyber and home school charter schools have silently become a prominent part of the charter school movement. These alternative school models differ from conventional schools by relying on parents and the Internet to deliver much of their curriculum and instruction while minimizing the use of personnel and physical facilities. This article examines how recent developments in California and Pennsylvania have resulted in public scrutiny of cyber and home school charters and led to considerable debate and demands for public accountability. Our findings outline the need to modify regulatory frameworks to accommodate cyber and home school charters, the consideration of the differing financial allocations for schools that operate with reduced personnel and facilities, and the division of financial responsibility between state and local educational agencies.     

美国特许学校的办学绩效分析--来自美国加利福尼亚的报告

特许学校是美国20世纪90年代出现的一种新型公立学校.经过10多年的发展,特许学校的办学绩效引起了美国教育界的广泛关注.本文介绍了美国加州关于特许学校绩效分析的一份最新报告.     

Charter school authorizers and student achievement

In this paper we analyze the relationship between charter school authorizers and student achievement. We perform this analysis using a 10-year panel dataset from Minnesota, a state that permits four distinct types of authorizers—local school boards, postsecondary institutions, nonprofit organizations, and the Minnesota Department of Education. The results of the analysis indicate that there is no statistically significant relationship between charter school authorizing type and mean levels of student achievement. However, the analysis also reveals that schools authorized by nonprofit organizations exhibit substantially more variability in achievement than schools authorized by local school boards.     

Consumerism and Gender in an Era of School Choice: A look at US Charter Schools

This article concerns gendered dimensions of parental involvement in two US charter schools. Drawing on the narratives of parents who have founded charter schools, and on conversations with school administrators and parents in the main public school district, it presents an analysis of the way parent-teacher interactions are being reframed in the context of school choice. The author argues that in a context in which parents are being asked both to produce and consume new educational programs, parents-practically speaking, mothers-who involve themselves in organizing charter schools run the risk of being seen as stepping out of their roles as consumers and caregivers. The implications of mothers' involvement in charter schools for parent-teacher interactions and for the trajectory of school reform are explored.     

Examining Variation Within the Charter School Sector: Academic Achievement in Suburban,Urban, and Rural Charter Schools

ABSTRACT

To date, there is a paucity of research that examines differences between charter schools that operate in suburban and nonsuburban contexts. This article examines whether students in suburban charter schools perform better or worse than their counterparts in traditional public schools or students in urban charter schools. Boasting the largest and most diverse charter school population in the United States, California offers a fertile urban-suburban context for the study of geographically differentiated charter school impacts and, thus, serves as the focus of our study. The student achievement data (2009–2010, 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 school years) for this study come from the California Department of Education. Using propensity score matching and virtual control records, our findings show that suburban charter schools do not improve academic achievement relative to the matched comparison group of traditional public schools. Suburban charter schools (namely, charters in high-income areas) are largely ineffective and appear to leave their students’ achievement unchanged or diminished. This study adds to the existing literature by examining the effects of charter schools on the neighborhoods in which they operate. Methodologically, another important contribution of this study is that it supplements traditional selection criteria for suburban charters (NCES classification) with census-based neighborhood factors. Finally, this study provides evidence of the broader implications of school choice policies in a suburban setting.     

美国KIPP学校发展的成效与启示

KIPP学校在长期的发展中形成了自身的特点,它以提高学生的学业成绩、发展学生的个性品质为使命,以高期望、卓越承诺书、超长的学习时间、强有力的领导和注重绩效为支柱,以高素养的师资、自主的学校管理为保障,在美国获得了快速发展。借鉴美国KIPP学校发展的成功经验,可以从学校办学模式和自主管理、促进教育公平等方面为我国普通学校...     

Politics of Charter Schools: Competing National Advocacy Coalitions Meet Local Politics

This article identifies supporters and opponents of charter schools at all levels of government and describes their motivations and behaviors. It is explained that state and local support for charter schools is most often determined by educational needs and material incentives. Different political contexts produce different charter school policies. For example, charter school legislation in Michigan was designed to increase competition among public schools. Legislation in Georgia served to deregulate public education after a period of increased state centralization. The article concludes that there is no cohesive state or local charter political pattern, given the variations in charter schools and their contexts. It remains unclear whether national charter school advocates have enough influence to expand the number of charter schools significantly. Local policymakers in areas with few educational pressures, such as some suburban communities, may resist change. Charter schools could end up as a marginal reform that impacts small numbers of students in urban centers, or continue their impressive growth, but it is state and local politics that will decide.     

Some economic guidelines for design of a charter school district

As the number of charter schools has grown nationally, there is increasing discussion of the consolidation of such schools into charter districts in which all schools would be charter schools from which parents would have the freedom to choose the school that they wished their student to attend. A major question is how such a charter school district would be organized to support its schools and who would perform the different functions required. It is argued that three economic guidelines need to be an important determinant of the solution to this question: the presence of economies of scale; transaction costs; and externalities. The article describes the application of these guidelines to the formation of a charter school district and suggests the different possibilities for addressing a range of important roles by schools, their districts and intermediate organizations and markets.     

Measuring the effect of charter schools on public school student achievement in an urban environment: Evidence from New York City

This paper uses student level data from New York City to study the relationship between a public school losing enrollment to charter school competitors and the academic achievement of students who remain enrolled in it. Geographic measures most often used to study the effect of school choice policies on public school student achievement are not well suited for densely populated urban environments. I adopt a direct approach and measure charter school exposure as the percentage of a public school's students who exited for a charter school at the end of the previous year. Depending on model specification, I find evidence that students in schools losing more students to charter schools either are unaffected by the competitive pressures of the choice option or benefit mildly in both math and English.