Charter Schools

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Introduction: Charter Schools in the Reform Imagination

   • Jeanne M. Powers

   Pages 1-15

3. Mapping the Terrain of Charter School Reform

   • Jeanne M. Powers

   Pages 17-38

4. State Level Policy Action

   • Jeanne M. Powers

   Pages 39-59

5. School Level Implementation: Charter School Reform “On the Ground”

   • Jeanne M. Powers

   Pages 61-110

6. How Policy Contexts Shape Implementation

   • Jeanne M. Powers

   Pages 111-158

7. Policy Dynamics — Schools and Accountability Policies

   • Jeanne M. Powers

   Pages 159-183

8. The Relationship Between Policy Talk and Implementation

   • Jeanne M. Powers

   Pages 185-203

9. Conclusion: Charter School Reform — Sweeping Claims and Modest Progress

   • Jeanne M. Powers

   Pages 205-211

10. Back Matter

    Pages 213-243

    PDF

This book begins with the claims of policymakers and explores charter schools at each stage of the policymaking process, from legislation to implementation. Powers carefully and thoroughly examines how features of schools' policy contexts shape the ways that charter school reform unfolds at schools, providing a nuanced portrait of the schools participating in this much discussed and little understood reform movement. While policymakers are often prone to making sweeping claims about the efficacy of charter schools, in practice charter school reform is much more complex. By drawing on an extensive and compelling range of data, Powers assesses the validity of policymakers claims.

• conflict
• dynamics
• reform
• school
• state

"This is a very ambitious undertaking by Powers! It will be a serious and comprehensive contribution to the knowledge base on charter schools, which is sorely needed these days." - Gary Miron, Ph.D., Professor of Education, Western Michigan University

"Powers has convincingly demonstrated the necessity of examining any education reform from multiple points of view: the talk that spawns it; the local environment in which it is implemented; and the broader policy environment that shapes and limits it. Taking charter schools as the focus of her analysis, the message of Charter Schools:From Reform Imagery to Reform Reality is both a warning and a promise: whoever seeks to understand the complexities of education reform must be prepared to look across a wide and complex policy landscape." - Gene V Glass, Author of Fertilizers, Pills & Magnetic Strips: The Fate of Public Education in America

"Powers offers a useful overview of the national charter school scene, including the development of legal frameworks for charter-prominent states such as Arizona and Michigan. Using national data sets from 1999-2000 and 2005-06, Powers presents useful information, including the characteristics of those who attend and work in charters, variations in program offerings and management, and more." - CHOICE

Jeanne M. Powers is Assistant Professor in the Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University.

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