A Guide to Charter Schools Research and Practical Advice for Educators

by Kayes, Myron S.; Maranto, Robert; Agam, Kimberly Firetag; Ashley, Amy; Brown, Heath; Buck, John; Carpenter, Brian L.; Gau, Rebecca; Hassel, Bryan C., PhD; Henig, Jeffrey R.; Hess, Frederick M.; Holyoke, Thomas T.; Lacireno-Paquet, Natalie; Maranto, April

• ISBN13: 9781578864058
• ISBN10: 1578864054
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-05-08
• Publisher: R&L Education

Summary

Here is a short edited volume that brings together in one place, the best scholarly articles in charter schooling by national experts and leaders, written in a user-friendly fashion. It is the ideal introduction for those interested in the charter school movement with numerous insights for and by charter operators, administrators, and teachers as well as the academic community. The volume starts with essays explaining the history of education reforms past, in particular why their failures make charters a necessity. Additional essays examine such research questions as whether class size matters, how to end the teacher shortage, routes to alternative certification, why urban school reform fails, and how to make merit pay work. The second section includes essays outlining the key research on charter schools. Chapters examine such questions as how charter schools compare to district schools, how non-profit charters compare to for-profit charters, what determines teacher quality, and how the small size of charters makes for complex questions of accountability. The final section includes personal reflections, tips and horror stories from charter operators. In particular, essays examine why most charters have a tough first year, the difficulties of converting a private school to a charter, how to manage facilities, how to obtain grant money, and how to do good charter marketing.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. V
Charter Schools and School Reform: What We Know and Where We'll Go	p. 1
Book Review: Tinkering Toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform	p. 13
Big City Schools Are Not in Kansas: Can We Improve City Schools Without School Choice? Not in Your Lifetime!	p. 29
The Spinning Wheels of Urban School Reform	p. 33
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Teacher Abuse and How to End It	p. 41
Smaller Classes or Better Teachers?	p. 51
Why So Many Arizona Certified Teachers Aren't in the Classroom	p. 63
Where's the Alternative? Identifying, Training, and Certifying	p. 69
Revenge of the (Nerdy) Professors: Scholarly Research on Charter Schools and Why It Matters	p. 79
Personnel Policy in Traditional Public, Charter, and Private Schools	p. 91
Future of Chartered Schools-The Supply Side	p. 101
Charter School Accountability Issues-Pragmatic or Political?	p. 111
Teacher Quality Leadership from Public Charter Schools	p. 121
Does Mission Matter? Exploring a Typology of Charter School Orientation	p. 129
How the Best Laid Schemes Go Astray: The Agony and (Occasional) Ecstasy of Charter Start-ups	p. 149
Whose Idea Was This Anyway? The Continually Challenging Metamorphosis from Private to Charter	p. 157
If You Build It, They Will Come	p. 169
Measurement: The Key To Charter School Marketing	p. 185
When Charter Schools Have a Distinct Advantage Over Districts, or Show Me the (Grant) Money	p. 195
Horror Stories	p. 207
He Said/He Said: A Debate about Charters	p. 219
About the Contributors	p. 225
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