What does the phrase “charter school” convey? A common working definition is an “independently operated public school of choice, freed from regulations but accountable for results.” Yet all that such formulations of the charter school concept address are matters of structure, governance, and accountability. They say nothing about what sort of education is occurring inside the schools themselves. What is their curriculum? Their pedagogy? Their theory of learning?
Discussions of chartering seldom get close to such matters. But the essence of a charter school is supposed to be its differentness from other schools, at least other schools in its vicinity. If it’s not different, why attend it? Which leads to the question, How is it different? What makes it tick as an educational institution?
The study, authored by Dick Carpenter of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is based on a careful sorting of 1,182 charter schools, presents a cogent typology. The charter schools he examined and categorized represent 87 percent of all those operating in 2001-2002 in the five states (Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, and Texas) that then accounted for the lion’s share of U.S. charter schools.
This study will show you which charter schools are unique, and which are just following a mold.
Read the study here