We survey 137 charter school administrators and 129 board members and find that U.S. charter school internal controls are perceived to be relatively strong overall. However, board independence, board communication of internal control responsibilities to school personnel, lines of communication between the board and school personnel, and reporting…

Purpose: A common strategy used in school improvement efforts is a mandated process of formal planning, yet little is known about the quality of plans or the relationship between plan quality and implementation. This mixed-methods article investigates plan quality, factors associated with plan quality, and the relationship between plan quality and…

This article describes the results of a California state law established in 2010 that created "Districts of Choice." The District of Choice law was meant to encourage districts to compete for students by offering innovative programs and this-school-fits-my-child options that parents wanted. This designation meant that children from any…

Background: Purpose: This analysis considers the emergence, evidentiary basis, and potential of parent trigger policies. In particular, we focus on the policy, political and social circumstances in which parent trigger legislation emerged in California, the efficacy of the school improvement levers on which it draws, and the underlying assumptions…

This report summarizes the state of competition in American K-12 education. It pays particular attention to the prevalence and market penetration of charter schools, private school vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships as market reforms. The effect of added institutional competition from charters, vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships on the…

Many school districts and high schools provide well-designed pathways that combine rigorous academic instruction with technical education and real-world experience into a career-themed program of study. This Linked Learning approach helps districts and high schools prepare all students for both college and career, not just one objective or the…

This study is designed to increase understanding of the district's role in school improvement and factors contributing to the success of districts and their schools. American Institutes for Research (AIR), as a partner in the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd, has identified high-performing districts in California to learn from their…

Purpose: Despite the popularity of school "turnaround" and "portfolio district" management as solutions to low performance, there has been limited research on these strategies. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by exploring the strategic case of Los Angeles Unified School District's Public School Choice…

Some researchers believe that collaboration between schools and community stakeholders--including families, educators, community organizations, and businesses--is the key to improving public education. However, broad and inclusive community-school partnerships are rare. Instead, we frequently hear about friction between communities and their…

The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001 brought new urgency to the task of turning around low-performing schools. While many schools have been identified as needing improvement under NCLB, only a small percentage have failed to make progress for long enough--six years--to be subject to restructuring, the most serious consequence…

A major debate among education reformers over how best to reduce the achievement gap broke out during the 2008 presidential campaign. Most advocates on both sides backed Barack Obama, but they urged him to pursue different policies. The Education Equality Project (EEP) supported a continuation of accountability and other school-focused reforms.…

This Framework is intended for use by school districts and their community partners as they plan and adopt systems of quality pathways. The Critical Elements that make up the Framework are intended to deepen and clarify the district's thinking about how to build the infrastructure that supports the design, implementation, and sustainability of a…

This analysis of charter school performance addresses two critical questions: (1) how does the academic performance of California charter schools differ from that of noncharters; and (2) how does the academic performance of different kinds of charter schools vary? This study examined achievement data for charter and traditional public schools with…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is bolder than all previous federal education laws, setting ambitious goals for universal student achievement and authorizing severe remedies for schools not reaching them. In a nation where most youngsters are far from proficient in reading and mathematics and where innumerable efforts to boost learning levels…

Most political scientists argue that the term "public policy" encompasses both the actions of government and the intentions that determine those actions. This paper presents an overview of theories about the sources of impetus for policy changes, reviews public policy formation about school choice at the national level and in California,…