North Carolina public charter schools are schools of choice authorized by the State Board of Education. North Carolina has nearly 200 charter schools, which are evaluated for effectiveness annually by a tool called the Performance Framework. However, to date, the evidence collected through the Performance Framework has not been offered to scholars and school leaders as a resource for achieving effective charter schools. Furthermore, research has not been conducted to evaluate a school's performance in relation to its ability to complete a successful charter agreement renewal, which is the vein of a charter school's existence. The study examined operational, governance, and financial factors by utilizing evidence collected through the Performance Framework. I evaluated a sample of 11 schools using the descriptive studies nonexperimental method of research using the Performance Framework as the data source. This research found trends that led to the correlation of literature as reviewed in Chapter 2. School leadership matters. Schools that did not receive a 10-year renewal showed signs of struggle in multiple areas that were examined. This indicates a lack of oversight which is the direct responsibility of school leaders. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]