Current Research – Center on Reinventing Public Education

Why Do So Few Public School Districts Use Merit Pay?

This working paper presents a principal-agent model in the context of public schools to help explain the factors that affect district decisions about merit pay.

BRIEF – Lessons on Assessing the Costs of Small High Schools: Evidence from Seattle and Denver

This brief examines small high school costs in Denver and Seattle, analyzing each layer of district expenditures in order to get a better look at the price tag for small schools in comparison to others....

Charter Schools in Washington State: A Financial Drain or Gain?

This working paper examines the potential fiscal impact of charter schools in Washington State, at both the state and local levels.

Doing School Choice Right: Proceedings of a Meeting on Communities and Choice

This report summarizes a two-day seminar which addressed the question, “How Can Communities Do School Choice Right?” convened at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., in August 2004.

Legal Issues and Small High Schools: Strategies to Support Innovation in Washington State

This report explores legal issues affecting the establishment and operation of small high schools in Washington State.

BRIEF – From Bystander to Ally: Transforming the District Human Resources Department

This research brief for the fourth report in CRPE’s leadership series looks at the behind-the-scenes work of the school district human resource department and the role it plays in implementation of reform strategies.

From Bystander to Ally: Transforming the District Human Resources Department

Based on 49 interviews with district and school personnel, the report’s aim is to identify key issues that leaders in districts elsewhere can use to begin thinking about how they might make their HR office...

Making Sense of Leading Schools: A Study of the School Principalship

This report, based on in-depth interviewes with educators, looks at the daily working lives of school leaders. It then asks what this implies for policy and leadership development.