Scholars and policymakers have yet to hold a robust conversation about diversity in K-12 online schools. This study builds on research that suggests online charter schools enroll higher percentages of White and economically advantaged students compared to national K-12 school enrollment averages. While these findings remain consistent, the study…

There's mounting evidence that, for children of color especially, having one or more teachers of the same race over the course of students' educational careers seems to make a positive difference. But to what extent, if any, do the benefits of having a same-race teacher vary by type of school? Existing "race-match" studies fail to…

High school students' perceptions and experiences regarding student engagement were investigated using 32 focus group sessions across 4 different types of STEM education settings in 2 metropolitan areas in the Midwest. Students' understandings and experiences related to student engagement were reflected via 5 categories: students' thinking of…

Purpose: Operating in both traditional schools and alternative learning systems (ALS) requires organizations to have a strong understanding of what drives the cultural acceptance of violence and the capacity of the local populace to find peaceful solutions. This paper explores the results from a formative social network analysis (SNA) study on…

My dissertation examines the enrollment patterns of White children in traditional U.S. public schools in 2010. I link schools to their attendance boundaries to compare the percentage of White children living in a catchment area to the percentage of White children who attend the local neighborhood school. I find that just under a third of schools…

The purpose of this study is to use geographic information systems to map the spatial distribution of traditional public school closures and the opening of charter schools in Detroit. To achieve this purpose, we examine the following research questions: (a) How are traditional public school closures and the opening of charter schools spatially…

Currently, one third of teachers in the United States were trained by alternate route programs (Constantine et al., 2009). Although alternate routes programs fill a need within the education landscape, it is not enough to get more teachers into classrooms faster. Teachers must be prepared to address the needs of their students. Therefore, it is…

Using a DisCrit intersectional lens and statistical and spatial methods, we trace how the creation of K-8 schools functioned to create pockets of privilege in one urban U.S. school district. K-8 schools were both whiter and wealthier than district averages, serving as "enclave" schools. Although far fewer students with disabilities were…

Opponents of charter schools argue these schools "cream-skim" the best students from traditional public schools and push out hard-to-educate students. This paper reviews 22 studies of enrollment issues related to student achievement, special education status, English proficiency, and student discipline in US charter schools. Of the 22…

This literature review compares the current knowledge about the characteristics of effective charter schools to findings from the broader body of effective school research. We find that lists of effectiveness characteristics from the charter and traditional literatures are well aligned: good schools seem to look the same, regardless of governance…

This technical brief is part of an ongoing series the Center for Learner Equity (CLE) launched in 2015 that examines the enrollment and experiences of students with disabilities in different school settings. Using the 2017-2018 U.S. Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) data released earlier this year, this brief focuses on specialized charter…

Public charter schools increasingly are part of both the national conversation about education policy and the local urban scene in America. Previous studies of public charter schools have examined their achievement effects focused on both the state and metropolitan levels, and funding disparities focused on the state levels. This report is the…

As the charter sector has matured, its critics have multiplied. While charter schools enjoyed bipartisan and substantial public support for their first 20 years, the tide of public opinion now flows in more varied directions. Policymakers and leaders across the country are facing pressure to limit charter expansion, with public support for charter…

The challenges associated with educating students with disabilities in charter schools in Connecticut are symptoms of two broader issues--the state's inequitable public education funding system and problematic ambiguity in the state charter law. Fundamental changes to the state education funding system are required to better position urban…

This article provides a socio-spatial analysis of youth identities within the context of school choice reforms. Unable to conform to cultural ideals inscribed in the American school, a diverse group of youth forced out of traditional schools mediate the local production of school choice initiatives through the formation of youth identities as…