A Comparison Of Charter Public And Traditional Public School Principals

In the context of the charter school movement in the last 25 years, this author analyzed the 2007-2008 Schools and Staff Survey data to answer two research questions: after controlling for school level and school size what are the differences between traditional and charter public school principals when examining their personal and professional backgrounds in terms of demographics, experience, and education and after controlling for school level and school size what are the differences between traditional and charter public school principals in decision-making, working conditions, and perceptions of the position? Analyses for research question 1 revealed that the most significant differences between traditional and charter public school principals were in the areas of race, age, gender, and professional background and preparation. Charter school principals were more likely to be non-White, female, young, and have management experience outside of education. Analyses for research question 2 revealed that the most significant differences between traditional and charter public school principals were in the areas of establishing curriculum at their schools, determining the content of professional development programs for teachers, total number of days required to work, perception of leaving education if they could get a higher paying job, and the perception of transferring to another school. Charter school principals tended to feel that they had more power, worked more days, and had a more positive perception of their positions. Overall, this study supported previous literature pertaining to charter public school principals regarding who they are and how they function. It also identified significant differences in the demographics, professional background, decision-making responsibilities, working conditions, and principal perceptions between traditional and charter public school principals. After identifying the significant differences between these principals, implications of the findings were discussed and future research recommended.

The purpose of this study was to examine the similarities and differences in preferred leadership qualities among a random sample of principals of traditional elementary schools in California, traditional elementary schools in Alberta, Canada, and selected charter schools in the United States. The intent of the research was to identify the preferred leadership practices of each study group to determine and report significant differences and similarities. Seventy-five principals were randomly selected, 25 from each of the three study groups, to complete the survey. Forty-two principals (56%) returned surveys. Of the surveys returned, 40 were usable for the study. The theoretical foundation for the study was provided by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Bass and Avolio (1989). The MLQ provided 10 measures to be used as independent variables. Of the 10 measures, 4 related to transformational leadership, 2 to leadership, 1 related to non-leadership, and 3 related to outcome measures as a result of the leadership practice. Four primary research questions, each with a supporting null hypothesis, were tested using one-way ANOVAs resulting in 71 significant differences. The study of the preferred leadership qualities of principals in selected American charter schools, Alberta elementary public schools, and California elementary public schools confirmed that each group preferred transformational leadership practices over either transactional or nonleadership, practices. The degree of preference for transformational leadership practices of each principal group was, however, significantly different. The research identified the perception of each of the leadership groups on their use of seven leadership factors and the degree to which three outcome factors, pertaining to leadership, contributed to their success. The findings clearly indicated American charter school principals perceive themselves as transformational leaders significantly more than did either Alberta or California public elementary school principals at the 0.05 level of confidence. Charter school principals scored significantly higher than Alberta elementary school principals on three of the four transformational leadership factors: charisma, inspiration, and intellectual stimulation. When compared to California elementary school principals, charter school principals scored significantly higher on one of the four transformational leadership measures, charisma. Each of the three principal groups appeared to be in a state of transition from the traditional role of instructional leader toward a new role of Chief Executive Officers of their schools. The principal group scores also indicated that today's principals preferred the collaborative transformational approach to leadership over the traditional leadership style. As a result of the study, seven recommendations for future study were made. Four suggestions for practical applications of the study were also suggested.

This paper provides the first comparison of principals' preferences for teacher characteristics across traditional public and charter schools. Understanding how charter principals' preferences differ from those of public school principals contributes to scholarship on both teacher labor markets and charter schools. One of the first studies of teacher hiring in charter schools, this paper explores whether charter school flexibility and accountability leads to innovations in hiring practices.

Nearly the whole of America’s partisan politics centers on a single question: Can markets solve our social problems? And for years this question has played out ferociously in the debates about how we should educate our children. From the growth of vouchers and charter schools to the implementation of No Child Left Behind, policy makers have increasingly turned to market-based models to help improve our schools, believing that private institutions—because they are competitively driven—are better than public ones. With The Public School Advantage, Christopher A. and Sarah Theule Lubienski offer powerful evidence to undercut this belief, showing that public schools in fact outperform private ones. For decades research showing that students at private schools perform better than students at public ones has been used to promote the benefits of the private sector in education, including vouchers and charter schools—but much of these data are now nearly half a century old. Drawing on two recent, large-scale, and nationally representative databases, the Lubienskis show that any benefit seen in private school performance now is more than explained by demographics. Private schools have higher scores not because they are better institutions but because their students largely come from more privileged backgrounds that offer greater educational support. After correcting for demographics, the Lubienskis go on to show that gains in student achievement at public schools are at least as great and often greater than those at private ones. Even more surprising, they show that the very mechanism that market-based reformers champion—autonomy—may be the crucial factor that prevents private schools from performing better. Alternatively, those practices that these reformers castigate, such as teacher certification and professional reforms of curriculum and instruction, turn out to have a significant effect on school improvement. Despite our politics, we all agree on the fundamental fact: education deserves our utmost care. The Public School Advantage offers exactly that. By examining schools within the diversity of populations in which they actually operate, it provides not ideologies but facts. And the facts say it clearly: education is better off when provided for the public by the public.

Unexplored Conditions of Charter School Principals: An Examination of the Issues and Challenges for Leaders, explores contemporary policy issues confronting charter school principals. The purpose of this book is to explore the issues and challenges confronted by charter school principals across an array of goals and expectations set forth by the policy and local context. By drawing on leadership and policy experts and researchers, we offer an in-depth examination of what current issues charter school principals face. Starting with autonomy, we work our way through teacher evaluation and succession and socialization and then conclude with an opportunity to reflect on what we know and how to look forward. By drawing on autonomy, sensemaking, teacher evaluations, and succession and socialization, this book traces the development of the charter principal within these policy contexts. Collectively, these topics form the beginnings of what we hope will be an informative and useful conversation of where the charter school principal has been and where they are headed.

In dozens of places in New York City where a charter school and a traditional public school hold classes in the same building, charter school students in those buildings have achieved "proficiency" on statewide tests several times more often than traditional public school students taking the same tests. In 2013, a fifth-grade class in a Harlem charter school scored higher on a mathematics test than any other fifth-grade class in the entire state of New York. That included, as the New York Times put it, "even their counterparts in the whitest and richest suburbs, Scarsdale and Briarcliff Manor." Nationwide, charter schools have only a fraction of the number of students who attend traditional public schools. But charter schools enrollment is growing faster, especially in low-income minority communities. From 2001 to 2016, enrollment in traditional public schools rose 1 percent, while charter school enrollment rose 571 percent. In cities across the country, with many students on waiting lists to transfer into charter schools, public school officials are blocking charter schools from using school buildings that have been vacant for years, in order to prevent those transfers from taking place. Even in states where blocking charter schools from using vacant school buildings is illegal, the laws have been evaded. In some places, vacant school buildings have been demolished, making sure no charter schools can use them. Book jacket.

This book provides a foundational understanding of the charter school principalship through the lens of culture, mission and vision. By drawing on the experts in the field of charter school research, this volume expands our understanding of the unique challenges facing the charter school principal as they engage in the core responsibilities of developing and sustaining charter schools. With this expanded knowledge practitioners and policy makers are positioned to ponder and engage in improved practice, while researcher can further expand the knowledge base surrounding the charter principal.

America’s commitment to public schooling once seemed unshakable. But today the movement to privatize K–12 education is stronger than ever. Samuel E. Abrams examines the rise of market forces in public education and reveals how a commercial mindset has taken over. “[An] outstanding book.” —Carol Burris, Washington Post “Given the near-complete absence of public information and debate about the stealth effort to privatize public schools, this is the right time for the appearance of [this book]. Samuel E. Abrams, a veteran teacher and administrator, has written an elegant analysis of the workings of market forces in education.” —Diane Ravitch, New York Review of Books “Education and the Commercial Mindset provides the most detailed and comprehensive analysis of the school privatization movement to date. Students of American education will learn a great deal from it.” —Leo Casey, Dissent