What is a charter school? Where do they come from? Who promotes them, and why? What are they supposed to do? Are they the silver bullet to the ills plaguing the American public education system? This book provides a comprehensive and accessible overview and analysis of charter schools and their many dimensions. It shows that charter schools as a whole lower the quality of education through the privatization and marketization of education. The final chapter provides readers with a way toward rethinking and remaking education in a way that is consistent with modern requirements. Society and its members need a fully funded high quality public education system open to all and controlled by a public authority.

This savvy guide demystifies the complicated high school admissions process and compiles all of the information into one source so that families can make a well-informed decision when choosing their child's school. Listing more than 140 schools by category--Catholic, Independent, and Public--and providing general information about each one, this resource helps parents narrow their search by outlining each school's curriculum and philosophy, costs, class sizes, percentage of college-bound graduates, and public transportation options. The accompanying timeline begins with the sixth grade and outlines important topics of discussion to prepare parents and prospective students along the way.

To better serve the whole child, look at the whole report card. Students are more than their academic grades—you know it and their parents know it. The progress they make in social-emotional learning and character development is essential to their success in school and in life. But while educators have made great strides in improving grading for academic achievement, we’ve left too many teachers still guessing when it comes to outdated behavior ratings and comment sections. That’s where this book comes in. Grounded in research and in the author’s work with teachers and administrators, it offers guidance on retooling report cards to better reflect the whole child, integrating SEL and CD into any school- or district-wide grading system. Resources include Guided exercises for analyzing existing report cards Samples and suggested report card designs Tips on improving communication with parents Case studies highlighting common challenges Testimonials from teachers and students "When you take report cards to the next level, you make sure that communication reflects all of the important characteristics of success—and ensure that students develop the skills they need for the future. This book brilliantly illuminates the key role played by social-emotional learning in each student’s development and it challenges the tradition of relegating the SEL/EQ observations to the back of the report card. If we want to develop better communities, this book shows the way." Dr. Neil MacNeill PhD, EdD - Head Master Ellenbrook Indpendent Primary School "The ultimate goal of misbehavior is attention. When children don’t get the attention they need through the proper behavior, they will get it any way they can. Children want to be loved and cared about. SEL will help them to learn the proper ways to get attention. It will also help teachers better understand the misbehaviors and redirect students toward positive behavior." Pamela L. Opel - Teacher, Intervention Specialist Gulfport School District

In recent years, consumers, professional organizations, government officials, and third-party payers have become increasingly concerned about how to assess the quality of the services provided by organizations in both the private and the public sectors. One new approach is the organizational report card, which compares the performance of organizations such as public schools, colleges, hospitals, and HMOs. This book offers the first comprehensive study of such instruments. It discusses the circumstances under which they are desirable alternatives to other policy instruments, such as regulation; how they should be designed; who is likely to use them and for what purpose; and what role, if any, government should have in their creation. Informed by cases drawn from education, health, and other policy areas, this book develops a conceptual framework for analyzing these issues. It explores the tradeoffs in measuring performance, the methods of communicating results effectively to mass and elite audiences, and the ways in which organizations respond to the data gathered.

This book presents the first published accounts and evaluations of the first free market in education in the U.S., Arizona charter schools.. The charter school is fast becoming one of the most significant attempts at public education reform in this country. Over 1100 charter schools operate in twenty-seven states, with several hundred more to be added in the next two years. School Choice in the Real World looks at the charter school movement through a highly focused lens: it examines charter schools in Arizona, which currently account for nearly one-quarter of all charter schools. Using this state as a case study, the editors examine the experiences of actual charter school operators, social scientific analysis, policy discussions, and criticism and forecasting for the future. School choice is the most talked about reform of American public education, yet writings about choice remain highly speculative because no state has adopted a free market approach to education--until now. The charter school is fast becoming one of the most significant attempts at public education reform in this country. Over 1100 charter schools operate in twenty-seven states, with several hundred more to be added in the next two years. School Choice in the Real World looks at the charter school movement through a highly focused lens: it examines charter schools in Arizona, which currently account for nearly one-quarter of all charter schools.Since 1994, Arizona has implemented a charter school law with the lowest barriers to entry in the nation. As a result, Arizona has more than 200 charter school campuses. Some districts have even lost more than 10% of their students to charter schools. Using the state of Arizona as a case study, the editors examine the experiences of actual charter school operators, social scientific analysis, policy discussions, and criticism and forecasting for the future. The editors bring together academics, policy-makers, and practicioners, and they explain and evaluate how school choice works in the real world.

Economics can be a lens for understanding the behavior of schools, districts, states, and nations in meeting education needs of their populaces, as well as for understanding the individual decisions made by administrators, teachers, and students. Insights from economics help decision makers at the state level understand how to raise and distribute funds for public schools in an equitable manner for both schools and taxpayers. Economics also can assist researchers in analyzing effects of school spending and teacher compensation on student outcomes. And economics can provide important insights into public debates on issues such as whether to offer vouchers for subsidizing student attendance at private schools. This two-volume encyclopedia contains over 300 entries by experts in the field that cover these issues and more. Features: This work of 2 volumes (in both print and electronic formats) contains 300-350 signed entries by significant figures in the field. Entries conclude with cross-references and suggestions for further readings to guide students to in-depth resources. Although organized in A-to-Z fashion, a thematic “Reader’s Guide” in the front matter groups related entries by topic. Also in the front matter, a chronology provides students with historical perspective on the development of education economics and finance as a field of study The entire work concludes with a Resources appendix and a comprehensive Index. In the electronic version, the index, Reader's Guide, and cross references combine to provide effective search-and-browse capabilities.

The definitive history of the report card. Report cards represent more than just an account of academic standing and attendance. The report card also serves as a tool of control and as a microcosm for the shifting power dynamics among teachers, parents, school administrators, and students. In Report Cards: A Cultural History, Wade H. Morris tells the story of American education by examining the history of this unique element of student life. In the nearly two hundred-year evolution of the report card, this relic of academic bookkeeping reflected broader trends in the United States: the republican zealotry and religious fervor of the antebellum period, the failed promises of postwar Reconstruction for the formerly enslaved, the changing gender roles in newly urbanized cities, the overreach of the Progressive child-saving movement in the early twentieth century, and—by the 1930s—the increasing faith in an academic meritocracy. The use of report cards expanded with the growth of school bureaucracies, becoming a tool through which administrators could surveil both student activity and teachers. And by the late twentieth century, even the most radical critics of numerical reporting of children have had to compromise their ideals. Morris traces the evolution of how teachers, students, parents, and administrators have historically responded to report cards. From a western New York classroom teacher in the 1830s and a Georgia student in the 1870s who was born enslaved, to a Colorado student incarcerated in the early 1900s and the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants applying to college in the 1930s, Report Cards describes how generations of people have struggled to maintain dignity within a system that reduces children to numbers on slips of paper.

Multifaceted Assessment in Early Childhood is ideal for those on upper-division undergraduate courses and first-level graduate courses in early childhood education assessment. The book covers the various measures used in a range of assessment dimensions, and includes valuable information regarding young children with special needs and English Language Learners, which has rarely been touched upon in other textbooks. The chapters are focused on student accessibility and include practical applications of key concepts. Features and benefits: Covers a range of assessment concepts, including - Formative (uses feedback from learning to adapt teaching) -Summative (i.e. tests, quizzes) -Authentic (focuses on complex/deeper tasks) -Standardized (STAR, SAT) Includes coverage of assessment for English language learners and children with special needs -- topics that are not provided enough coverage in other books (including Wortham, McAfee, Puckett and Mindes). Wright's writing style grabs and engages the reader in the topic. Two of our reviewers who use Wortham specifically cited Wright's writing style as a reason they would adopt our book. A McAfee reviewer is likely to switch for the same reason.

Assessing the Nation’s Report Card examines the history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and outlines plans for improving and modernizing the organization. Educational policy analyst Chester E. Finn, Jr. imparts a rare inside analysis of the evolution of the NAEP program at key moments in its history, and provides a firsthand perspective of crucial decisions and core goals that have helped shape it. The result is a revealing survey of the US’s most influential source of data on K–12 achievement. Assessing the Nation’s Report Card offers readers an in-depth understanding and appreciation of NAEP as well as an examination of its shortcomings, its controversies, and its current issues. The book explores why NAEP is considered the gold standard of educational assessments yet is much lesser known than other types of standardized testing. Finn underscores the promise of applying the results in addressing achievement gaps, boosting federal accountability, and driving education reform and policy. He also discloses how the data are collected and what the results can and cannot tell us. For more than 50 years, this ambitious federal testing program has informed the decisions of policy makers and educational leaders as they advocate for educational improvements in the US. Acknowledging the nation’s evolving need for actionable information about students and schools, Finn provides an assured and rare overview of the existing program and proposes possibilities for the future.