Resources Filtered by: Brief + Charter Operations

As part of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning series, Tamara Butler Battaglino, Matt Haldeman, and Eleanor Laurans of the Parthenon Group wrote this brief estimating the costs of online education in K-12 public schools. Through a series of 50+ interviews and analysis of financial statements, the authors provide estimated expenditures of virtual schools and blended learning programs (schools that offer a portion of their instruction online). Several charter schools were profiled as part of the research for this brief.

Brayn C. Hassel and Emily Ayscue Hassel of Public Impact, writing for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, envision a future with fewer teachers but more instructors filling new roles. In Teachers in the Age of Digital Instruction, Hassel and Hassel offer a briefing on the implications of online learning for human capital. Topics covered include virtual charter schools, various approaches to blended/hybrid learning, and the benefits of remote instruction for recruitment and retention of teachers.

This September 2011 report from the What Works Clearinghouse of the Institute of Education Sciences provides a short review of a 2011 study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes of charter school performance in Indiana. The study, which compared charter school students’ mathematics and reading growth to that of similar traditional public school students, found that gains by charter school students were significantly greater.

Through examination of innovative practices in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Minnesota, this guide outlines essential elements in the development of a strong charter school governing board.