Abstract: One of the most contentious policy areas in the United States today is the expansion of school choice. While many dimensions of parental-choice behavior have been analyzed, many of the most enduring questions center on the aspects of schools parents prefer and how these preferences will affect the socioeconomic and racial composition of schools. Using Internet-based methodological tools, we study parental preferences revealed through information search patterns and compare these findings to the standard ones in the literature, which are based largely on telephone interviews. Based on this evidence we suggest that unfettered choice may lead to undesirable outcomes in the distribution of students, and it may also lead to reduced pressure on schools to improve academic performance.

Abstract: Proponents of school choice present market-based competition as a means of leveling disparities between race, class and performance in public school systems. Opponents see school choice as threatening to exacerbate this problem because competition for students will pressure individual schools into targeting students with the highest performance and the least encumbered with personal and social disadvantages. We suggest that some charter schools, by background and affiliation, are likely to be more market-oriented in their behavior than others, and test the proposition that market-oriented charter schools engage in cream-skimming while others disproportionately serve highly disadvantaged students. Comparing student composition in market-oriented charter schools, nonmarket-oriented charter schools, and traditional public schools in Washington, DC, we find little evidence that market-oriented charters are focusing on an elite clientele, but they are less likely than the other two types of schools to serve so...

Abstract: Preface Outline of the Book Acknowledgments About the Authors Chapter 1: Charter Schools and Privatization - With Christopher Lubienski What Are Chater Schools? A Crash Course in the Charter Concept Accountability to Whom? The New Politics of Education What's Public About Charter Schools? Formalist and Functionalist Views of Public-ness Chapter 2: Shifting From Public to Private: Historical and Political Backdrop Charter Schools in the National and International Context The Public-Private Pendulum in Michigan The Emergence of Michigan's Charter School Law Chapter 3: The Charter School Reform in Michigan The Charter School Concept in Michigan The Growth and Development of Michigan Charter Schools Chapter 4: Charter School Finance - With F Howard Nelson How Michigan Funds Charter Schools General Fund Expenditures Case Studies of Charter School and School District Revenues and Expenditures The Cost Advantage of Charter Schools Chapter 5: Choice and Access Distribution by Grade Racial/Ethnic Composition of the Charter Schools Income, Family Structure, and Other Characteristics Special Education--or the Lack of It--in Michigan Charter Schools Beyond Demographics: Reasons for Choosing Charter Schools Chapter 6: Teachers' Characteristics and Working Conditions Teacher Demographics Certification and Qualification of Teachers Reasons to Seek Employment at a Charter School Working Conditions and Levels of Satisfaction Chapter 7: Innovation and Impact Impact on Surrounding School Districts Impacts on Educational Practice The Diffusion of Charter School Innovations and Practices Chapter 8: Student Achievement Michigan in National Context Assessing Charter School Impacts in Michigan A Summary of the Findings EMOs and Student Achievement Chapter 9: Customer Satisfaction Nontest Indicators of Academic Performance Satisfaction With and Accomplishment of Mission Satisfaction With Curriculum and Instruction Satisfaction With Facilities and Available Resources The Relationship Between Market and Performance Accountability Chapter 10: The Effects of Education Management Organizations The Growth of EMO Involvement in Charter Schools Roles and Types of EMOs Ownership of Charter Schools and the Problem of Bundling Control and Governance of Charter Schools: Is the Tail Wagging the Dog? Operating Charter Schools for Profit: Strategies and Consequences Chapter 11: Lessons in Choice and Accountability What's Public About Michigan Charter Schools? A Review of the Evidence Are Charter Schools a Good Public Investment? The Question of Efficiency Diagnoses and Prescriptions for Charter School Laws The Future of Choice and Accountability Appendix A: Key Historical Developments in Michigan That Have Affected the Public and Private Nature of Schooling Appendix B: Background and Supporting Documentation for Analysis of Student Achievement Appendix C: List of EMOs and the Number of Schools They Operated in 2000-01 References Index

Abstract: Every chapter concludes with "Summary," "Recommended Activities," "Additional Resources," and "References." Foreword. Preface. 1. An Introduction to Families, Mary Lou Fuller and Glenn W. Olsen. Defining "Family" and Determining Family Responsibilities Families, Their Children, and Teachers. Changing World-Changing Families. Home-School Relations in the Past. Looking at Families. Parent Involvement. 2. Families and Their Functions-Past and Present, Mary Lou Fuller and Carol Marxen. The Evolution of the Family. Early History. Contemporary American Families. Patterns of Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage. Functional Families. Dysfunctional Families. 3. Diversity among Families, Ivan Watts and Sandra Winn Tutwiler. The Changing Family. Family Structure. Alternative Family Structures. Ethnic and Cultural Diversity. frican American Families. Asian American Families. Hispanic/Latino Families. Native American Families. Religious Diversity. 4. Parents' Perspectives on Parenting, Karen W. Zimmerman. Becoming a Parent. Parenting Styles. Parenting Behaviors in Diverse Family Structure. Single-Parent Families. Divorced Noncustodial Fathers and Mothers. Stepparent Families. Rewards and Satisfactions of Parenthood. 5. Teachers and Parenting, Judith B. MacDonald. Teaching and Parenting. Teachers' Perspectives on Parents. Parents' Perspectives on Teachers and Schools. 6. Parent-Teacher Communication: Who's Talking? Sara Fritzell Hanhan. Building a Coequal Relationship. Barriers to Two-Way Communication. Aids to Two-Way Communication. Initial Communication. Regular Communication. Written Communication. Parent-Teacher Conferences. Communication with Parents of Middle School Students. Other Ways of Communication on a Regular Basis. Communication on Special Occasions. 7. Parent Involvement in Education, Soo-Yin Lim. Defining Parent Involvement. The Benefits of Parent Involvement: What Research Has to Say. Six Types of Parent Involvement. Foundations of Facilitating a Meaningful Parent Involvement. 8. Families and Their Children with Disabilities, AmySue Reilly. Historical Perspective. Number of Children Receiving Special Educational Services. Federal Special Education Laws and Legislation. Family Systems. 9. Family Involvement Models. Family Involvement in Special Education, Mary McLean and Margaret Shaeffer. A Family Systems Conceptual Framework. Family-Centered Intervention. Parent to Parent Programs. COACH. Co-Instruction. Family Involvement Models in Early Childhood Education, Soo-Yim Lim. Head Start. Early Head Start. Title I/Even Start. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Minnesota Early Childhood Education. ADVANCE. Parent and Child Education (PACE). Family Involvement Models in Elementary Education, Marci Glessner. Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS). MegaSkills. Center for the Improvement of Child Caring (CICC). National Network of Partnership Schools. School Development Program (SDP). Family Involvement Models in Middle Schools, J. Howard Johnston and Aimee Fogelman. The Outcomes of Involvement. Impediments to Family Involvement. Model for Family Involvement. Contextual Considerations. Engaging Culturally Diverse Parents. The Model in Operation. Supporting Parent Involvement and Securing Assistance for the School. What Advice Can We Give Parents? 10. Educational Law and Parental Rights, Gloria Jean Thomas. History of the Legal Relationship between Parents and Schools. State Constitutions and Education. State Legislatures and Education. State and Federal Courts and Education. Case References. 11. Family Violence, Tara Lea Muhlhauser and Douglas D. Knowlton. Child Abuse and Neglect. Domestic Violence. Recommendations for Action. 12. Poverty, Mary Lou Fuller. What is Poverty? Myths about Poverty. The Effects of Poverty. Schools and Families of Poverty. Working with Low-Income Families. Suggestions for Working with Low-Income Parents. 13. Fatherhood, Society, and School, Charles B. Hennon, Glen Palm and Glenn W. Olsen. Basic Premises. Fatherhood in Context. Conduct of Fathering. Understanding Fathering. Fathering and School Achievement. Benefits of Involving Fathers in Schools. Society-Level Interventions. Community-Level Interventions. Parent Education. Father's Involvement with Schools. Family-Level Interventions. 14. School Choices in Education, Joe Nathan. School Choice Programs Have Four Key Features. Rationale. Brief Historical Background. Vouchers. Home-Schooling. Magnet Schools. Boston, MA-Schools Within Schools. New Small Schools. The Charter School Movement. Post-Secondary Options. Sharing Facilities. 15. School Violence and Bulling: Implications for Home School Partnerships, John H. Hoover, Mary Beth Noll and Glenn W. Olsen. School Violence Bullying and Violence. Family Interaction Patterns Affecting Bulling and Victimization in Children. Social Cognitive Schemes: A Way for Educators to Understand the Role of Families in Bullying and Victimization. Home-School Relations and Bullying: What Educators and Future Educators Should Know.

Abstract: Historically, most attention in public programs has been given to the resources devoted to the activity, and resources have been used to index both commitment and quality Education differs from other areas of public expenditure because direct measures of outcomes are available, making it is possible to consider results and, by implication, to consider the efficiency of provision Early interpretations of the evidence, emanating from popular interpretations of the Coleman Report that “schools do not make a difference”, are incorrect, but the basic evidence behind the statement suggests serious performance problems of government supply, because purchased inputs to schools are not closely related to outcomes This paper reviews that evidence along with providing an evaluation of the various controversial aspects including issues of causality, consumer behavior, and estimation approaches Two detailed policy areas are discussed in terms of the evidence on performance: public versus private provision and the financing of schools

Abstract: This article argues that radical shifts in school governance arising from wider social, political, and economic relations toward what are described as high-risk and low-trust societies challenge past notions of leadership. I explore the tensions between the pluralism of postmodernist thinking and modernist notions of social justice that produce "predicaments" for school leaders through a series of paradoxes of educational management around centralized decentralization, markets and management, new educational professionalism, parental choice and community participation, and between the substance and style of leadership. The values underpinning the corporatization of public and private life most evident in education do not provide a satisfactory grounding for effective school leadership.

Abstract: Notes test score impacts for African Americans but not Latinos after three years. Also reveals higher levels of parent satisfaction with private schools and some aspects of the school climate.

Abstract: Decentralization, goal steering, accountability, managerialism, evaluation, choice, competition and privatization are key terms in the international rhetoric of educational policy. However, in the historical traditions and cultural-social framework of various nations, this ‘new’ policy perspective takes a specific form and shape. In the Nordic countries, with their welfare state tradition which stresses equality in education as well as in other fields of life, radical changes are taking place. This article examines the change in educational policy and governance in Finland during the past decade. The examination is based on many sources and materials including documents, statistics and interviews with educational politicians, administrators and teachers, and a survey of students collected during two comparative research projects during 1998–2001.

Abstract: Preface 1 School Choice Options and Issues: An Overview 2 The Outcomes of School Choice Policies 3 Political Theory and School Choice (coauthor: Richard Ruderman) 4 Parent Rights, School Choice, and Equality of Opportunity (coauthor: Jennifer L Kemerer) 5 Vouchers and Tax Benefits: Tradeoffs between Religious Freedom and Separation of Church and State 6 The Economics of Choice 7 School Choice Regulation: Accountability versus Autonomy 8 The Politics of Choice and a Proposed School Choice Policy

Abstract: A school that is more productive is one that produces higher achievement in its pupils for each dollar it spends. In this paper, I comprehensively review how school choice might affect productivity. I begin by describing the importance of school productivity, then explain the economic logic that suggests that choice will affect productivity, and finish by presenting much of the available evidence on school choice and school productivity. The most intriguing evidence comes from three important, recent choice reforms: vouchers in Milwaukee, charter schools in Michigan, and charter schools in Arizona. I show that public school students' achievement rose significantly and rapidly in response to competition, under each of the three reforms. Public school spending was unaffected, so the productivity of public schools rose, dramatically in the case in Milwaukee.

Abstract: Participation, a 'buzzword' in social development in both developed and developing countries, has several different interpretations in terms of purpose, form and implication. For instance, parents are encouraged to participate individually in choosing the school for their own children, and they are expected to participate collectively in school development through the work of school governing bodies. Furthermore, participation in education is often considered to be a means of assuring accountability of decentralised institutions. This paper explores the notion of parental participation in school governance, based on data obtained from field research in Uganda. It argues that parents' perceptions of the accountability of the school affect the way they participate in education. Thus, accountability is one of the crucial factors for realising local democracy through decentralisation.

Abstract: According to a theoretical model, school autonomy and parental participation in schools, can increase student learning through separate channels. Greater school autonomy increases the rent that can be distributed among stakeholders in the school, while institutions for parental participation (such as school board) empower parents to command a larger share of this surplus - for example, through student learning. Using a rich cross-sectional data set from Argentine schools (sixth and seventh grades), the authors find that autonomy, and participation raise student test scores for a given level of inputs, in a multiplicative way, consistent with the model. Autonomy has a direct effect on learning (but not for very low levels of participation), while participation affects learning only through the mediation of the effect of autonomy. The results are robust to a variety of robustness checks, and for sub-samples of children from poor households, children of uneducated mothers, schools with low mean family wealth, and public schools. It is possible that autonomy, and participation are endogenously determined, and that this biases the results - the data available do not allow this to be ruled out with certainty. Plausible predicators of autonomy, and participation are also plausible predicators of test scores, and they fail tests for the over-identifying restrictions. Heuristically argued, however, the potential for correlation with unobserved variables may be limited: the data set is rich in observed variables, and autonomy and participation show very low correlation with observed variables. Subject to these caveats, the results may be relevant to decentralization in two ways. First, as decentralization moves responsibility from the central, toward the provincial or local government, the results should be directly relevant if the decentralization increases autonomy, and participation in schools. Second, if the results are interpreted as representing a more general effect of moving decision-making toward users, and the local community, the results are relevant even if little happens to autonomy, and participation in schools. More important, perhaps, the authors illustrate empirically the importance of knowing who is empowered when higher levels of government loosen control.

Abstract: The recently published data from the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) has revealed that Germany ranks lowest among the OECD countries for educational equalities. This paper examines whether it is the tracking of children into different types of school environments at a particularly early stage of their intellectual development, i.e. at the transition from primary to secondary school, which contributes to such inequalities. The analysis is based on data taken from two surveys of learning achievement, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA). The data consistently reveal that although ability is a key selection criterion, children’s educational achievement varies greatly within the respective school tracks to which they are allocated. Although migrants are predominately selected to lower academic school tracks, they do not face educational inequalities if their socio-economic background and measured ability is similar to that of German nationals. On the other hand, children from rural areas, pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds and boys in general have a significantly lower probability of being selected to the most academic school track even when their educational ability is similar to that of their urban and better socially placed counterparts. Since the outcome of sorting is difficult to correct and school choice shapes career options, there is a high likelihood that such educational inequalities in secondary schooling will have an impact on pupils’ lives and career opportunities long after they have completed compulsory education.

Abstract: This paper examines the political economy of school choice and focuses in particular on the role of suburbanites. This group, which we contend is the most important and powerful stakeholder in choice debates, has yet to receive much attention in the commentary. It turns out that suburbanites, by and large, are not wild about school choice, either public or private. Suburbanites are largely satisfied with the schools in their neighborhoods and want to protect the physical and financial independence of those schools (as well as their property values, which are tied to the perceived quality of local schools). School choice threatens the independence of suburban schools by creating both the possibility that outsiders - particularly urban students - will be able to attend suburban schools and the possibility that some locally-raised revenues will exit local schools as students leave to attend either private schools or public schools outside of their residential districts. When suburbanites perceive a threat to their schools, they fight back, and they usually win. As the paper documents, school desegregation and school finance litigation, despite some successes, largely left suburban districts undisturbed in their ability to control attendance and the expenditure of local resources. A similar pattern is emerging in school choice plans, almost of all which work to protect the physical and financial autonomy of suburban schools and residents. If this pattern continues, school choice plans will be geographically constrained, will tend to be intradistrict, and will exist primarily in urban districts. So constrained, we argue, school choice will neither be a panacea for public school students (as its proponents claim) nor will it be much of a threat to the continued existence of traditional public schools (as its opponents claim). Instead, as we endeavor to show, such plans hold the promise of limited academic improvement, little to no gain in racial and socioeconomic integration, and limited gains in efficiency among public schools. To achieve the theoretical benefits of school choice, such plans must be expanded, especially in ways that will increase socioeconomic integration. The final part of the paper is devoted to considering ways to do so, which include supporting the drive for increased access to government-funded (though not necessarily government-operated) preschools, the theory being that the more parents experience (a form of) school choice, the more their perceptions and preferences regarding choice might change.

Abstract: Notes test score impacts for African Americans but not Latinos after three years. Also reveals higher levels of parent satisfaction with private schools and some aspects of the school climate.

Abstract: This paper considers the notion of schools in a spiral of decline, in which less popular schools within a market system lose numbers and increase their proportion of socially disadvantaged pupils over time. In an era of raw-score performance indicators such a decline could quickly become a spiral, with disadvantage leading to poorer aggregated results, leading to less popularity and so on. Using data derived all secondary schools in England from 1989 to 1999, we find little evidence for any increase in the existence of such schools. Whether we consider falling rolls, closing schools, or special measures we find only one school, among 30 LEAs considered in detail, that has both consistently falling rolls and increased social disadvantage. This one example may be due to market pressure, but we also present the suggestion that such irregular events happened prior to 1998 anyway. It is the case that the greatest increase in relative disadvantage in this school was from 1998 to 1999 (i.e. ten years after the E...

Abstract: In this article, Dan Goldhaber and Eric Eide consider what we do and do not know about the impact of school choice, focusing particularly on the potential impact of choice on minority students in urban school settings. They observe that many argue that school choice is a necessary component of any educational reform designed to improve educational outcomes for students. While public pressure has yielded a tremendous expansion of choice options, Goldhaber and Eide contend that the empirical evidence on the academic effects of school choice reforms is mixed. They propose that relatively little evidence exists that these schools are having a clear-cut positive or negative impact on the achievement of either the students who attend them or those who remain in traditional public schools. They conclude that the mixed evidence on choice suggests that choice in and of itself is unlikely to be the solution that revolutionizes urban school systems.

Abstract: Transformations in local secondary schools markets in the UK have not simply been accomplished at a structural and policy level: social changes are crosscut by fiction and fantasy that resonate with and implicate subjects at the level of the personal. Drawing on a study of children's transitions to secondary school, we analyse the emotional processes through which particular schools come to be 'demonized' in the minds of Year 6 children, consider the impact such damaging discourses have on children who were to go to those schools, and explore connections between social and psychic realities in the increasing polarization of secondary schools. We examine the impact of discourses of race and racism on the psychic construction of 'good' and 'bad' schools and explore how this connected with family practices of secondary school choice and current constructions of UK local educational markets.

Abstract: Major principles underlying school choice—such as market competition and parental autonomy—are in serious tension with the principles underlying inclusion from both philosophical and legal perspectives. In this article, the authors explicate this tension and then examine the empirical evidence indicating that exclusion of students with special needs, particularly by schools that market themselves on the basis of test scores, has been a result of the implementation of school choice. The authors suggest that school choice has turned back the clock by once again encouraging public schools to exclude students with special needs on the ground that educating such students is beyond the scope of their mission.

Abstract: Mr. Davies makes a series of recommendations that add up to a plea for changing the culture of schools so that partnership is a way of life that offers benefits to all who are engaged and becomes a tradition rather than a funded project. Visit 10 schools randomly in the United States and you will discover in nine of them that most teachers and administrators still hold parents at arm's length. You will see many of the tried-and-true forms of parent involvement - an open house in the fall, two or three short parent conferences a year, parents attending student performances and sports events, some teachers calling parents when a child is misbehaving, an annual multicultural fair, a parent association that raises money, and a business partner that donates equipment. But you'll observe few if any parents or community representatives actively involved in the school's efforts to make changes in curriculum, teaching, student rules, homework policies, or scheduling. I WROTE those words in 1996 in an Education Week commentary. I went on to assert that the 10th school would be different - and better. My comments were widely circulated by the Institute for Responsive Education and provoked considerable reaction. It is time to revisit my 10th school claim and ask what has happened in the intervening years. Because of the rapid advance of the high standards/accountability/testing movement (49 states have new standards, 48 have testing programs geared to higher standards, and many states are threatening to take over failing schools), I expected that there would be substantial action toward involving families and the community in schools. I also expected that the growing national concern - expressed by politicians, business leaders, and educators - about the huge, widening gaps in achievement between white and African American and Latino children would prod more districts, schools, and parent and community organizations to recognize that schools can't close these gaps alone. I thought that more parties would act on the fact that substantial engagement of home and community is likely to increase the chances of success of any reform effort. If rational planning didn't produce action, I thought that desperation might spur new strategies. Have these expectations been realized? The answer is yes and no. Some things have changed. Now it seems that everybody talks about, studies, and advocates parent and family involvement. The "whole village" idea is widely embraced, and "partnership" has become a mantra. There is hardly a politician, educational leader, organization, or conference that doesn't highlight in some way families, parent involvement, and partnership. They are now the equivalent of "motherhood and apple pie." This surge of interest in and acceptance of the ideas of parent involvement and partnership is gratifying. But practices in most schools have hardly caught up with the flourishing rhetoric. I still stand behind my 10th school assertion, and some of my colleagues in the parent advocacy world would say that I am much too generous with this assessment. There has certainly been an increase in business involvement in many places, and more local education foundations are providing outside financial help. Some districts and schools have increased parent or community involvement, but this effort is still too often seen as a side show, not directly linked to school reform aimed at increasing student achievement and closing gaps in student performance. There are some scattered developments focused on involving parents in closing the achievement gaps that seem promising. For example, seven urban principals are cited in the Heritage Foundation's No Excuses report as setting high standards in low-income schools. Nearly all of them "work actively with parents to make the home a center of learning" and to make the school "a force for stability in an impoverished community."1 Other positive examples include the expanded family centers in the schools in Rochester, New York; a small family literacy project in Boston; and work by action teams in some of the schools in Joyce Epstein's School, Family, and Community Partnerships Network. …

Abstract: Within the differentiated forms of education provision, this paper intends to inquire into the causality governing the relation between the use of vouchers in education and an increased enrolment segmentation or student sorting. It does so through a comparative analysis of the quasi-market reform in Chile and the quasi-monopoly system in place in Argentina. Although from a national perspective these two countries have faced very different decentralisation reforms, they have presently arrived at similar states of their education system in terms of their enrolments' socio-economic segregation. The paper shows that vouchers are not an independent variable but an intervening one within the determinants of socio-economic segmentation. The evidence from Chile and Argentina shows that enrolment segmentation is not a consequence of the introduction of vouchers, and the causal relationship between these two variables is not a clear one. That is, the family school choice decisions brought about by the introduction ...