A Clearer Picture on Charter Schools
The effectiveness of charter schools in raising student achievement has become an intensely debated issue. When we last considered this topic, the Department of Education was pushing charter schools but dueling studies introduced uncertainty. A new study by CREDO clears up the uncertainty.
Brighter Choices in Albany
City's charter schools outshine the competition.
Reformers in New York’s capital have brought high-quality charter schools to scale, giving hope to a generation of disadvantaged kids.
Wave of the Future
Why charter schools should replace failing urban schools
Why charter schools should replace failing urban schools
Lost Opportunities
Lawmakers threaten D.C. scholarships despite evidence of benefits
Lawmakers threaten D.C. scholarships despite evidence of benefits
Poor Schools or Poor Kids?
To some, fixing education means taking on poverty and health care
To some, fixing education means taking on poverty and health care
The Case for Special Education Vouchers
Parents should decide when their disabled child needs a private placement
Parents should decide when their disabled child needs a private placement
Accountability Overboard
Massachusetts poised to toss out the nation's most successful reforms
Massachusetts poised to toss out the nation’s most successful reforms
New York City Charter Schools
Who attends them and how well are they teaching their students?
Who attends them and how well are they teaching their students?
Special Education Vouchers
Video: Jay Greene talks with Education Next about vouchers for disabled kids, the fastest-growing type of voucher today.
D.C. School Enrollment: Numbers, Damn Numbers and Statistics
Washington D.C. school enrollment is looking like a footrace that both the traditional and charter schools can claim to be winning. Auditors: Start your calculators.
Why are Some Environments Better than Others for Charter Schools? Today’s Policy Question
This has been a good year for evidence on the effectiveness of charters, highlighted by a major national study from CREDO and a new study in the continuing work from New York City. Nonetheless, understanding and interpreting the scientific research within the political and media environment is made more difficult by the political context.
Researchers Find Special Education Voucher Programs Ensure Better Services and Outcomes for Students
In a feature article for the winter 2010 issue of Education Next, education researchers Jay P. Greene and Stuart Buck of the University of Arkansas dispel several common myths about these programs and show how they have benefited handicapped children in states where they have been enacted, including those not in private placements.
Special Ed Vouchers Level the Playing Field for Disabled Kids
As Jay Greene and I argue in our brand new Ed Next article, “The Case for Special Education Vouchers,” parents of special ed students should be provided with vouchers that would allow their children to attend private school. The moral and equitable case for providing special ed vouchers is strong: some special ed students get a raw deal from the traditional public schools, which often are unable to provide the needed services or specialized teachers that a disabled student needs.
In Good Faith
Earlier this week I submitted the following letter to the editor to the Wall Street Journal. I don’t know whether it will be published. I am less sanguine than the paper’s editors regarding the intentions of Senator Durbin.
New Ed Next Podcast: Charter Schools Narrow Achievement Gaps in New York City
Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. tackle another hot topic in education via podcast. This week they discuss Caroline Hoxby’s random assignment study of student achievement in charter schools in New York City. Click here to get to the podcast.
Charter Schools Narrow Achievement Gaps in New York City
Podcast: Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. talk about Caroline Hoxby’s random assignment study of student achievement in charter schools in New York City.
Work Hard. Be Nice.
The roots and reality of the Knowledge Is Power Program
The roots and reality of the Knowledge Is Power Program
La crème de la crème
It’s true that charter opponents can’t look at the recent Hoxby study and claim that it unfairly compares one type of student to another. But it doesn’t prove at all that charter schools aren’t creaming. Of course they are creaming. And good for them for doing it.
New Education Next Podcast: Charter Schools, Unions, and Linking Teachers with Student Achievement Data
Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. discuss the week’s education news, including an announcement that a charter school in Massachusetts has signed a collective bargaining agreement with its teachers, an agreement that includes merit pay. Click here to listen to the podcast.
Powerful Professors
Research can change the political agenda…if the circumstances are right
Research can change the political agenda…if the circumstances are right
Charter Schools, Unions, and Linking Teachers with Student Achievement Data
Podcast: Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. discuss the week’s education news, including an announcement that a charter school in Massachusetts has signed a collective bargaining agreement with its teachers, an agreement that includes merit pay.
Teacher Cooperatives
What happens when teachers run the school?
What happens when teachers run the school?
Brighter Choice Charter Schools
Photos: Additional images of the Brighter Choice Charter Schools in Albany, NY.
Bringing High-Quality Charter Schools to Scale
There are more than 4500 charter schools across the United States today, but in only a few cities do charter schools enroll a significant percentage of public school students. And in most of those charter-dense cities, a lot of charter schools are merely mediocre. In one small city, though, school reformers will find the holy [...]
