Current Research – Center on Reinventing Public Education

Is it Better to be Good or Lucky? Decentralized Teacher Selection in 10 Elementary Schools

This working paper presents results from a qualitative field study of school-based hiring—one of the more foundational ideas for reforming centralized and bureaucratic human resource management (HRM) systems.

Buying Smart in Thin Markets: District Tactics to Improve the Quality and Quantity of Autonomous Schools

This paper identifies tactics districts can use to influence the factors that shape the supply and quality of providers of autonomous schools in thin markets.

Working With Private Partners to Manage the Market: Collaborative Approaches to Charter School Oversight

This paper finds that informal partnerships between authorizers and private organizations have the potential to improve the quality and quantity of new schools.

In the Eye of the Beholder: Charter Schools and Innovation

This paper summarizes the research evidence on charter school innovation to date and suggests ways to more productively pursue future research and development in the charter sector.

Salvaging Assets: Considering Alternatives to School Closure

What are the options for charter school authorizers or entities with similar responsibilities who want to preserve assets when closing low-performing schools? This study suggests that authorizers rarely try to salvage these assets.

Challenges and Charter Schools: How Families with Special-Needs Students Perceive and Use Charter School Options

This report addresses choices made at the intersection of two very important trends in education: special education and charter schools.

Special Education Challenges and Opportunities in the Charter School Sector

This report explores the various difficulties charter schools face related to educating children with disabilities and examines potential opportunities to address those.

Ch. 1 – The National Charter School Landscape in 2007 (HFR ’07)

This chapter of examines the growth of charter schools from 2004-2007 and explores how charter schools differ from traditional public schools in their curricular approaches and school structure.

Ch. 2 – Under New Management: Are Charter Schools Making the Most of New Governance Options? (HFR ’07)

This chapter of addresses three main areas of charter governance: teacher involvement, community partnerships, and charter boards.

Ch. 3 – Building a Pipeline of New School Leaders (HFR ’07)

This chapter of takes up the issue of charter leadership pipelines via in-depth interviews with Jonathan Schnur, co-founder of New Leaders for New Schools.