SchoolGrants Especially for Charter Schools

Links for Charter Schools

New Charter School Openings Decline for First Time Since ‘97 The Center for Education Reform (CER) has released the 8th edition of its publication, Charter School Laws Across the States: Ranking and Scorecard. According to CER’s findings, the strength of a state’s charter schools laws has a great deal to do with a school’s ability to raise academic achievement levels of students. The study finds that 26 states have strong laws while 15 have laws that are considered weak. In addition, state law impacts the number of charter schools in the state and their ability to remain viable. CER distinguishes between strong and weak laws using the following criteria: The degree to which the laws constrict operations, impose administrative burdens, and rely heavily on existing education rules and offices; and Whether charters are normally managed by school districts or are autonomous. (from 3/1/2004 SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter)

Charter School Guidance (NCLB)	The U.S. Department of Education has released non-regulatory guidance for charter schools that addresses questions the Department has received regarding various provisions of the Charter Schools Program (CSP) statute, such as student admissions to charter schools, the use of lotteries, private school conversions, and the involvement of for-profit organizations in charter schools. The non-regulatory guidance also addresses how businesses, faith-based communities and other community-based organizations and individuals associated with them can be involved in the development and operation of charter schools. (excerpted from 9/1/03 SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter.)

Apples to Apples: An Evaluation of Charter Schools Serving General Student Populations	The Manhattan Institute has published a new evaluation report that compares the academic performance of students attending traditional public schools to similar students who attend charter schools. Researchers for this first-ever national empirical study of charter schools that compares “apples to apples” found that test scores for charter school students outperformed those of their peers in traditional schools. RAND has produced a new report entitled Charter School Operations and Performance: Evidence from California for the California legislature. The report analyzes the following questions: What population of students attend charter schools? Is student achievement higher in charter schools than in conventional public schools? What oversight and support do the chartering authorities provide? How do charter schools differ from conventional public schools in terms of their operation including finances, academic environment and staffing? The report also offers seven recommendations for improvement of charter schools.

Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993 to 1999	This report examines data from three cycles of the National Household Education Surveys Program (1993, 1996, and 1999) in which children's parents were asked if their children attended their assigned public schools, public schools that they had chosen, private schools that are church-related, or private schools that are not church-related, and about their satisfaction and involvement with those schools. The report provides information about trends in the use and users of public schools of choice and private schools, and outcomes of these choices-parent satisfaction and involvement, and students' plans for postsecondary education. The percentage of children enrolled in public, assigned schools for 1st through 12th grades decreased from 80 percent in 1993 to 76 percent in 1999. The decrease in public, assigned school enrollment was almost completely offset by an increase from 11 to 14 percent in public, chosen school enrollment. Enrollment in private schools remained relatively stable in each year.













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