Current Research – Center on Reinventing Public Education

School Safety in Urban Charter and Traditional Public Schools

Analyzing data from the 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), this working paper finds that charter schools consistently reported significantly fewer issues with threats to persons or property and fewer behavioral problems than traditional public...

Inside Charter Schools: A Systematic Look at Our Nation’s Charter Schools

This is the introductory report from the “Inside Charter Schools” initiative, a multi-year, federally funded study of the people and work of charter schools.

Opening Doors: How Low-Income Parents Search for the Right School

Researchers with CRPE’s Doing School Choice Right initiative determine what drives the school-choice decisions made by 800 low- to moderate-income families in three cities.

Ch. 3 – A One-Day Ceasefire: What Charter School and Teachers Union Leaders Say When They Meet (HFR ’06)

This chapter of Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006 presents the results of a meeting between charter school leaders and teachers union leaders to discuss areas of agreement...

Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006

This edition of Hopes, Fears, & Reality explores some of the most controversial issues facing the charter school movement and the implications of continued growth for leading players in the charter school debates.

Ch. 1 – Doing Their Homework: How Charter School Parents Make Their Choices (HFR ’06)

This chapter of Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006 reports the results from a new multi-city survey that examines how low-income parents choose charter schools.

Ch. 2 – Life After Charters: School Districts and Charter School Growth (HFR ’06)

This chapter of Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006 reports the results of a new study that examines how city school districts that lose students and funding to...

Ch. 4 – Improving State and Local Assessments of Charter School Performance (HFR ’06)

This chapter of Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006 shows how states can get an honest picture of how charter schools are performing under their laws.

Ch. 5 – Charter Authorizing: It’s a Dirty Job, But Somebody’s Got to Do It (HFR ’06)

This chapter of Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006 reports on the preliminary results from a study of the agencies that authorize new charter schools and assess their...

Ch. 6 – A Better Way: Measuring Charter School Success and Failure (HFR ’06)

This chapter of Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006 shows how public officials, citizens, and the press can move beyond the preoccupation with test scores to begin assessing...