A Guide to Charter Schools: Research and Practical Advice for Educators / Edition 1

by Myron S. Kayes, Robert Maranto 21st Century Chair in Leadership, University of Arkansas; Fayetteville Scho, Kimberly Firetag Agam, Amy Ashley, Heath Brown

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578864058
Publisher:	R&L Education
Publication date:	05/08/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Myron S. Kayes is president of the non-profit SCHOOLS, Inc. He also directs the Center for Program Resources and is employed full time as a development director for a regional medical center. Robert Maranto is associate professor of political science at Villanova University and has served at the Brookings Institution, the Goldwater Institute, and the Commonwealth Foundation.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables     V
Charter Schools and School Reform: What We Know and Where We'll Go   Robert Maranto   Myron S. Kayes   April Gresham Maranto     1
Book Review: Tinkering Toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform   Liane Zimny     13
Big City Schools Are Not in Kansas: Can We Improve City Schools Without School Choice? Not in Your Lifetime!   Robert Maranto     29
The Spinning Wheels of Urban School Reform   Frederick M. Hess     33
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Teacher Abuse and How to End It   Robert Maranto     41
Smaller Classes or Better Teachers?   Lewis C. Solmon   Kimberly Firetag Agam     51
Why So Many Arizona Certified Teachers Aren't in the Classroom   Rebecca Gau   Louann Bierlein Palmer     63
Where's the Alternative? Identifying, Training, and Certifying   Amy Ashley   Mike Kayes     69
Revenge of the (Nerdy) Professors: Scholarly Research on Charter Schools and Why It Matters   Robert Maranto     79
Personnel Policy in Traditional Public, Charter, and Private Schools   Michael Podgursky     91
Future of Chartered Schools-The Supply Side   Bryan C. Hassel     101
Charter School AccountabilityIssues-Pragmatic or Political?   Heather Zavadsky     111
Teacher Quality Leadership from Public Charter Schools   Michael B. Poliakoff     121
Does Mission Matter? Exploring a Typology of Charter School Orientation   Jeffrey R. Henig   Natalie Lacireno-Pacquet   Thomas T. Holyoke   Heath Brown     129
How the Best Laid Schemes Go Astray: The Agony and (Occasional) Ecstasy of Charter Start-ups   Robert Maranto     149
Whose Idea Was This Anyway? The Continually Challenging Metamorphosis from Private to Charter   Jim Spencer     157
If You Build It, They Will Come   John Buck     169
Measurement: The Key To Charter School Marketing   Brian L. Carpenter     185
When Charter Schools Have a Distinct Advantage Over Districts, or Show Me the (Grant) Money   Amy Ashley   Mike Kayes     195
Horror Stories   Robert Maranto     207
He Said/He Said: A Debate about Charters   Mike Kayes   Robert Maranto     219
About the Contributors     225

Editorial Reviews

Charter schools will be the savior of public education in the twenty-first century. Indeed, the redemption of public education lies in the system's willingness to become more and more charter-like. Yes, charter schools have their flaws, but A Guide to Charter Schools demonstrates that charter schools can overcome them where the current public school system cannot.

Matthew J. Brouillette

Kayes and Maranto's writings have always enlightened us as to how the education reform policies we advocate evolve into practice that affects thousands of students. Their perspective invites understanding over ideological hope, and their latest work combines the talents of others who likewise seek to provide us a window into the actual effect of our policies over time. Student-centered reforms such as charter schools now provide a history of over a decade of work. The next actions of educators and reformers should depend on a clear appreciation for the benefits we have inspired as well as the pitfalls we may have wrought. There's nobody better to collect that history meaningfully for us than these two scholars...

Lisa Graham Keegan

Intended as an introduction for those interested in the charter schools movement, this volume presents scholarly articles on the subject by authors representing a variety of perspectives.

Reference and Research Book News

The chapters in this book explore almost every nook and cranny of the issues involving charter schools, from how charters should be issued to what these schools should teach to how they are studied. Also the chapters span methodological approaches, from empirical analyses to case studies to participant recollections. The authors range from charter supporters to charter critics, from the right and from the left. In short, one would be hard pressed to find a more comprehensive and balanced picture of what we know about charter schools than what is found in this book.

Jay P. Greene

A punchy and useful overview of many facets of charter schooling that will prove useful for friends and critics of charters alike and those who want to learn more about these new public schools.

Andy Rotherham