Resources & Research

This 2011 report from the Harvard University Center for Education Policy Research evaluates the impact of charter school attendance on academic achievement in Massachusetts. The report suggests that, as a group, “charter middle schools boost average math scores, but have little effect on average English Language Arts (ELA) scores. The results for high school show strong effects in both subjects.” The report also discusses the differences between urban and nonurban school settings and the practices of schools.

This June 8, 2012, order of U.S. Magistrate Judge James M. Hopkins provides an overview of the key developments and legal issues in the case of a Palm Beach County public school district staff member, Deborah Nash-Utterback, who took a leave to start a charter school, publicly challenged district actions impacting the operation of the school and her employment, and  filed a lawsuit claiming she faced reprisals from the district that harmed her career and violated her free speech rights.

This July 2012 report from the Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives provides an overview of the public school system in New Orleans, where 78 percent of the students go to charter schools.The report covers the condition of district and charter schools, and includes descriptions and analyses of the system and its performance, information from a survey of public school parents, funding and facilities data, and success

This is Ohio’s Amended Substitute Senate Bill 316, which was signed into law by the governor on June 25, 2012, and involves changes impacting charter schools, including an increase from two to five in the number of start-up school governing boards on which an individual can serve; a requirement for revision by the state education board of operating standards to accommodate blended learning programs; a delay until 2015-2016 for a requirement for core subject teachers at low-performing schools to take cont