“It’s Our Best Choice Right Now”: Examining the Choice Options of Charter School Parents

One of the underlying premises of the charter school movement is that quality drives consumer choice. As educational consumers, parents are viewed as rational actors who, if given the choice, will select better performing school. In examining the choice processes of charter school parents, however, this study calls into question the extent to which some parents can make optimal choices. Interviews with parents enrolled in two different charter schools indicate that charter parents do not necessarily choose higher performing charter schools; nor do they necessarily leave low performing charter schools. The study also provides evidence that parent “choice sets” (Bell, 2009) vary depending on networks and social capital. Thus, choice alone does not necessarily ensure that parents will have better, more equal options.

Download Full-text

Looking Backward to Charter Schools

International Journal of Educational Reform ◽

10.1177/1056787920974334 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 105678792097433

Author(s):

Daniel Tanner

Keyword(s):

Charter Schools ◽

Secondary School ◽

Charter School ◽

School System ◽

Class System ◽

Margaret Thatcher ◽

Democratic Experience ◽

Clear And Present Danger ◽

Charter School Movement ◽

School Movement

Charter schools are promoted as a contemporary American invention. But the documented history reveals that charter schools actually evolved over the centuries in England, structured to reflect the highly stratified British class system. The last stand to hold onto the charter-school system in England was waged by Margaret Thatcher under the banner of “parental choice.” But her campaign went down to defeat as the British public opted for the American-style, inclusive and comprehensive secondary school. The charter-school movement raises the clear and present danger of splitting up the American unitary, comprehensive school system at cost to the American democratic experience.

Download Full-text

Religiously Affiliated Charter Schools

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199386819.013.16 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Nathan C. Walker

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Charter Schools ◽

Charter School ◽

Legal Framework ◽

Federal Courts ◽

State Law ◽

Religiously Affiliated ◽

Faith Based ◽

Charter School Movement ◽

School Movement

Charter schools have grown significantly since 1991, when Minnesota became the first state to enact charter school legislation. Charter schools are public schools, as defined by federal and state law. Thus, when it comes to issues of religion and education, charter schools are bound by the same laws and legal precedents as public schools. As a result, local developers and state chartering agencies that seek to establish religious or faith-based charter schools are likely to fail in state and federal courts. This chapter examines this legal framework in the larger charter school movement.

Download Full-text

Nearly Three Decades into the Charter School Movement, What has Research Told us About Charter Schools?

10.4324/9780429202520-4 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 73-106

Author(s):

Ron Zimmer ◽

Richard Buddin ◽

Sarah Ausmus Smith ◽

Danielle Duffy-Chipman

Keyword(s):

Charter Schools ◽

Charter School ◽

Charter School Movement ◽

School Movement

Download Full-text

The Charter School Movement: Encouraging Results and a Disappointing Article

Social Science Quarterly ◽

10.1111/j.0038-4941.2004.00262.x ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 85 (5) ◽

pp. 1061-1071 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Joe Nathan

Keyword(s):

Charter School ◽

Charter School Movement ◽

School Movement

Download Full-text

Online Stratifcation: How Academic Performance Indicators Relate to Choices between Cyber Charter Schools

Teachers College Record ◽

10.1177/016146811912100307 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 121 (3) ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Bryan A. Mann ◽

Stephen Kotok

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

School Improvement ◽

Charter Schools ◽

Charter School ◽

Performance Indicators ◽

School Policy ◽

Enrollment Patterns ◽

Choice Sets ◽

Charter School Policy ◽

Cyber Charter School

Background/Context A primary argument that supports charter school policy assumes students favor schools with high academic performance ratings, leading to systemic school improvement. Previous research challenges this assumption but has limited generalizability because geographic and enrollment constraints limit student choice sets. Purpose/Objective This study examines student enrollment patterns within cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania, a state where elected policymakers tend to view choice as a means for school improvement. Cyber charter schools are advantageous to study in this context because they have fewer enrollment barriers, helping researchers account for constraints found in previous studies. Research Design Using consecutive years of student-level enrollment data, we use descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression analyses to answer the following questions: Is a particular cyber charter school more popular if it displays relatively higher performance on academic indicators? To what extent do enrollments in the highest performing cyber charter school relate to the demographics of students and school environments that they left? Findings/Results The findings suggest that despite the more accessible choice sets inherent in the cyber charter school sector, academic performance indicators still are not linked to popularity within the sector. Enrollment clustering persists along student demographics and feeder district traits. Conclusions/Recommendations These findings suggest that even in the cyber charter school sector where key enrollment restrictions are removed, inequitable enrollment patterns persist. These findings continue to challenge basic assumptions used in school choice policy framing. Policymakers should consider this evidence when and if they design and implement charter school policy, creating policy that accounts for inequitable enrollments that occur under current policy logic.

Download Full-text