Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2008

N

71

Charter Schools; Academic Achievement; Essays; Evidence; Special Education; Equal Education; Urban Schools; College Preparation; Teaching Methods; Special Needs Students; Educational Practices; Educational Quality; Institutional Characteristics; High Schools

Over the last three years, "Hopes, Fears, & Reality" has provided new evidence and analysis about what is going on in charter schools, how well they are doing, where they need to improve, and what can be learned from the research on these types of public schools. Past volumes have outlined how achievement studies should be conducted and interpreted, suggested how to achieve more effective public oversight of charter schools and how to eliminate barriers to growth, and presented nationwide trends in the number of charters opened and closed and the characteristics of these schools. In this year's edition, the National Charter School Research Project (NCSRP) brings new evidence to some of these past questions and turns to some new ones. The essays in this volume provide: (1) An update on how charter school students are performing academically (chapter 1); (2) New data about how charter schools approach teaching and learning (chapter 2); (3) Analysis of what college-prep charter schools offer inner-city students (chapter 3); (4) An overview of how charter schools tackle special education (chapter 4); and (5) An argument for mapping the demand side of charter schooling as a growth strategy (chapter 5). What is striking throughout these essays is that charter schools are more different than alike, not only in terms of the populations they serve, the academic missions they pursue, and the results they produce, but also in their response to local need and capacity. Each chapter contains figures and notes.

ERIC

2012

ED528668