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Issues

Digital Learning Now! – Roadmap To Reform

Digital Learning Now! a national campaign to encourage the creation of high quality online learning programs, releases "Roadmap for Reform", a report aiming to guide Governors, state leaders, school officials, and lawmakers as they adopt policies to transform education for the digital age.

Interview with Dr. Andrea Thomas-Reynolds

New Orleans’ Algiers Charter School Association CEO, Dr. Andrea Thomas-Reynolds, spent some time with Newswire sharing the road her charter took to high student and teacher success in a post-Katrina environment. Following is a brief re-cap: Newswire: What was the impetus to starting the charter network? Reynolds: It actually emerged from the aftermath of Katrina,…

University of Chicago Study Finds Modest Learning Gains

A University of Chicago study finds that while graduation rates have had significant growth, racial gaps have widened and many students have academic achievement levels below what is necessary to go to college.

Less Freedom with Waivers

Gene Hickok, former Deputy Secretary of Education, weighs in on President Obama’s plan to grant waivers for NCLB requirements to states that agree to certain education reforms.

Additional Work by Dr. Caroline Hoxby

“By the time a charter schools student has reached the end of eighth grade, our estimates indicate that he will be scoring about 30 points higher in math than he would have been scoring if he had been lotteried-out and remained in the regular public schools.” That’s just one of the conclusions of the most…

Do Charter Schools Work?

Yes. In addition to the positive pressure they put on the public school system as a whole, charter schools satisfy and serve their primary constituents (teachers, parents, and students) by providing exciting and viable new education in an inclusive, individual manner. Harvard University Professor and Economist Caroline Hoxby recently released a study called "A Straightforward…

Don't Choice Programs Just "Cream" the Best Students?

Skeptics often argue that school choice programs only succeed because they "cream" the best students, those with the most involved parents or the best academics, and leave the hard-to educate behind in the troubled traditional public school system. By measurement of student academic progress, parental involvement, constituent satisfaction and public school reaction to competition, the…

Annual Charter School's Survey

The CER's annual survey of the day-to-day operations of charters reveals that charter schools are experiencing stronger parental demand than ever before, with growing waiting lists at 65% of schools.

All About Charter Schools

There are more than 5,400 charter schools serving more than 1.7 million children across the country. (Fall, 2010) Visit the National Charter School Directory for a complete searchable listing and website links. Charters schools are growing at a rapid pace. For the 2010-2011 school year, 465 new charter schools opened in 40 states and the District of…

Are Choice Scholarships Programs Constitutional?

The strongest critics of choice scholarship programs claim that if dollars are used for religiously affiliated schools then they violate the First Amendment (establishment of religion). The First Amendment provides freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. Choice scholarship programs let parents choose where to direct their children's education funds. The state is not imposing…