A Comparison of Public and Charter School Board Governance in Three States

In this essay, Harry Brighouse and Gina Schouten outline four standards for judging whether to support the chartering of a new school within a given jurisdiction. The authors pose the following questions to a hypothetical school board member: Will the school increase equality of opportunity? Will it benefit the least-advantaged students in the jurisdiction? Will it improve the preparation of democratically competent citizens? Will it improve the quality of the daily, lived experience of the students? Brighouse and Schouten suggest that most of the evidence concerning charter school performance focuses on just the students within the schools, without addressing a charter school's effect on students who do not attend. They argue that a full evaluation requires both kinds of evidence and that these questions are the four standards that should guide both the decision maker and researchers gathering evidence on the effects of charter schools.

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Charter school board members’ readiness to serve and implications for training

Journal of Educational Administration ◽

10.1108/jea-05-2018-0099 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 57 (2) ◽

pp. 102-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marytza Gawlik ◽

Ann Allen

Keyword(s):

School District ◽

School Board ◽

Charter School ◽

School Boards ◽

Training And Development ◽

Board Members ◽

School Board Members ◽

Content Type ◽

Roles And Responsibilities ◽

The Usa

Purpose Analyzing data collected from the charter school board members and the superintendent in a charter school district in a southeastern state about the quality and usefulness of training, the purpose of this paper is to provide an important foundation for understanding training and development for charter school boards in the USA. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a qualitative case study approach to examine a charter school district and the preparedness of charter school board members to serve in that district. The authors sampled one charter school district in the southeast region of the USA and interviewed five charter school board members and the superintendent. Findings The first theme is composition and responsibility of charter school board members, which outlines the roles and responsibilities that charter school board members assume when they serve on this charter district board. The second theme is preparedness to serve, which traces the readiness of charter school board members to serve on a board. The final theme is training and documents related to the kind of training charter school board members receive once they are appointed to the board. Originality/value This study provides a conceptual framework about the dimensions and standards associated with preparedness to serve as a charter school board member and broadens the authors’ understanding of the roles and responsibilities of charter school boards, their preparedness to serve and the training and development they receive.

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Statement of Jennifer Comey Research Associate The Urban Institute: Performance of Students Attending District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), District of Columbia Public Charter School Board (PCSB) Schools, and District of Columbia Board of Education (BOE) Schools: Submitted to the Agency Performance Oversight Hearings Committee of the Whole Council of the District of Columbia

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e722592011-001 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Comey

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

School Board ◽

Charter School ◽

District Of Columbia ◽

Board Of Education ◽

Urban Institute ◽

Research Associate

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Big money and its influence on K-12 education: An interview with Sarah Reckhow

Phi Delta Kappan ◽

10.1177/0031721718775677 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 99 (8) ◽

pp. 41-45

Author(s):

Rafael Heller

Keyword(s):

School Board ◽

Charter School ◽

Federal Policy ◽

Academic Standards ◽

Local School ◽

Reform Strategies ◽

School Sector ◽

K 12

Kappan’s editor talks with Michigan State University’s Sarah Reckhow about her research into the ways wealthy private philanthropies have influenced K-12 education in recent years. As Reckhow explains, not only have Gates, Broad, Walton, and other big foundations spent unprecedented amounts of money to support their favored reform strategies — such as expanding the charter school sector, raising academic standards, and evaluating teachers’ effectiveness — but they’ve maximized their influence by coordinating their messages, funneling their money to specific states and districts, pushing for changes in state and federal policy, and (most recently) contributing to local school board candidates.

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School Boards

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.717 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Ford

Keyword(s):

Public Education ◽

School Board ◽

School Boards ◽

Student Outcomes ◽

Special Interest Groups ◽

Board Governance ◽

School Students ◽

Public School Students ◽

Research Areas

School boards are a fixture of America’s public education system. The vast majority of public school students obtain an education overseen by one of over 13,000 locally elected school boards. Yet scholars and advocates continue to debate the legitimacy, efficacy, and even need for school boards. Supporters argue that school boards are bastions of local control designed to represent citizen values. Critics dismiss school boards as under qualified, overly political, and generally not up to the task of improving student outcomes. Key areas of school board research include board zones of discretion, superintendent relations, the link between school board governance and outcomes, and role of special interest groups in board elections. All of these research areas relate to the larger question of whether school boards are the appropriate model for the oversight of public education.

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