Parental Choice and the Decision to Decharter an Urban, Black, Middle School

School Characteristics and Teacher Policy Influence: Evidence From New York City

“…Among the few charter school studies that focus specifically on “teacher inputs” to school organization and policy choices, only one found that charter school teachers viewed themselves (and also were viewed by others) as possessing the ability to influence both instructional and administrative policies including curriculum, class size, and academic calendar (Tonso & Colombo, 2006). However, this study involved a qualitative examination of a single school.…”

Choosing for quality or inequality: current perspectives on the implementation of school choice policy in Sweden

“…In discussing school choice in the USA and the UK, Brighouse (2000) displays his strong support for the policy, but under the condition that its implementation is combined with broader reforms aimed at reducing class and race/ethnic differences in the society and on the basis of a meticulously constructed free-choice model. In a newly started Journal of School Choice (The Haworth Press) there are a number of contributions (Metcalf and Legan 2006;Stulberg 2006;Tonso and Colombo 2006) exemplifying this market-ambivalent position by discussing, e.g., the legacy of the school desegregation decision in the USA in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education (Patterson 2001) for current school choice discourse and interpreting some of the contradictory findings in the publicly funded school voucher program in Cleveland (Stulberg 2006).…”

“It’s Hard Answering Your Calling”: Teacher Teams in a Restructuring Urban Middle School

“…But, as the university's strategic mission changed, Charter came to seem out of place at the university. To make peace with the district and focus on their higher education mission, the university dechartered the school and transferred it to the urban district as a school of choice (Tonso & Colombo, 2006). The university's decision angered Charter parents, risking losing students the district needed to offset declining enrollment.…”

“…Charter teachers found the dechartering decision and merger with a district school secretive and divisive (Tonso & Colombo, 2006), but the promise of achieving a long-time goal of implementing their model of teaching in a building with science labs, a gymnasium, swimming pool, and schoolyard made the merger palatable (Coordinator interview, 10/23/03). This hopeful feeling was quickly dashed when Charter teachers learned that colleagues without full certification (about half the staff) would take substantial pay cuts to continue in the district as substitutes.…”

“…Second, like earlier research (Ehman;Geiser & Berman, 2000;Gunn & King;Holland;Picucci et al;Supovitz;Trimble & Peterson), Charter teams became the primary forum for empowered decision making and shared leadership by keeping decisions collaborative and as close to students as possible. Not surprisingly, teachers felt angry and betrayed when they were not included in the dechartering decision (Tonso & Colombo, 2006 University social work, nursing, and education programs provided qualified personnel such as a social worker and interns, an on-site nurse practitioner, and some of the extended day staff (Administrator, 6/10/03). Fourth, rather than have students go home to empty houses (Informant), an extended day portion of the school provided tutoring, recreation, and social activities after the regular school day (Administrator, 6/10/03) that most viewed as integral to student progress (Coordinator, 10/23/03).…”