Charter schools: another flawed educational reform?

233 Pages·1998·0.65 MB·English

by  Seymour Bernard Sarason

Charter Schools : Another Flawed
title: Educational Reform? Series On School
Reform
author: Sarason, Seymour Bernard.
publisher: Teachers College Press
isbn10 | asin: 0807737844
print isbn13: 9780807737842
ebook isbn13: 9780585255316
language: English
Charter schools--United States, Education
and state--United States, Educational
subject change--United States, Charter schools--
United States, Educational change--United
States, Education and state--United States.
publication date: 1998
lcc: LB2806.36.S27 1998eb
ddc: 371.01
Charter schools--United States, Education
and state--United States, Educational
subject: change--United States, Charter schools--
United States, Educational change--United
States, Education and state--United States.
Page i
the series on school reform
Patricia A. Wasley Ann Lieberman Joseph P. McDonald
Bank Street College of Education NCREST New York University
SERIES EDITORS
Charter Schools: Another Flawed Educational Reform?
SEYMOUR B. SARASON
Assessing Student Learning: From Grading to Understanding
DAVID ALLEN,
EDITOR
Racing with the Clock: Making Time for Teaching and Learning in
School Reform
NANCY E. ADELMAN,
KAREN PANTON WALKING EAGLE,
AND
ANDY HARGREAVES, E
DITORS
The Role of State Departments of Education in Complex School Reform
SUSAN FOLLETT LUSI
Making Professional Development Schools Work: Politics, Practice, and
Policy
MARSHA LEVINE
AND
ROBERTA TRACHTMAN, E
DITORS
How It WorksInside a School-College Collaboration
SIDNEY TRUBOWITZ PAUL LONGO
AND
Surviving School Reform: A Year in the Life of One School
LARAINE K. HONG
Eyes on the Child: Three Portfolio Stories
KATHE JERVIS
Revisiting "The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change"
Revisiting "The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change"
SEYMOUR B. SARASON
Teacher Learning: New Policies, New Practices
MILBREY W. McLAUGHLIN
AND
IDA OBERMAN, E
DITORS
What's Happening in Math Class?: Envisioning New Practices Through
Teacher Narratives (Volume 1)
DEBORAH SCHIFTER, E
DITOR
What's Happening in Math Class?: Reconstructing Professional
Identities (Volume 2)
DEBORAH SCHIFTER, E
DITOR
Reaching for a Better Standard: English School Inspection and the
Dilemma of Accountability for American Public Schools
THOMAS A. WILSON
Restructuring Urban Schools: A Chicago Perspective
G. ALFRED HESS, JR.
The Subjects in Question: Departmental Organization and the High
School
LESLIE SANTEE SISKIN
AND
JUDITH WARREN LITTLE, E
DITORS
Authentic Assessment in Action: Studies of Schools and Students at
Work
LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND,
JACQUELINE ANCESS,
AND
BEVERLY FALK
School Work: Gender and the Cultural Construction of Teaching
SARI KNOPP BIKLEN
School Change: The Personal Development of a Point of View
SEYMOUR B. SARASON
The Work of Restructuring Schools: Building from the Ground Up
The Work of Restructuring Schools: Building from the Ground Up
ANN LIEBERMAN, E
DITOR
Stirring the Chalkdust: Tales of Teachers Changing Classroom Practice
PATRICIA A. WASLEY
This series also incorporates earlier titles in the Professional
Development and Practice Series
Page iii
Charter Schools
Another Flawed Educational Reform?
Seymour B. Sarason
Page iv
For Julie, Paul, and Nathaniel
Who successfully created a new setting
Published by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New
York, NY 10027
Copyright © 1998 by Teachers College, Columbia University
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sarason, Seymour Bernard, 1919
Charter schools : another flawed educational reform? / Seymour B.
Sarason.
p. cm. (The series on school reform)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8077-3785-2 (cloth : alk. paper). ISBN 0-8077-3784-4
(paper : alk. paper)
1. Charter schoolsUnited States. 2. Education and stateUnited
States. 3. Educational changeUnited States. I. Title.
II. Series
LB2806.36.S27 1998
371.01dc21 98-11732
ISBN 0-8077-3784-4 (paper)
ISBN 0-8077-3785-2 (cloth)
Printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Page v
Contents
Preface vii
Chapter 1 1
Background and Plan of the Book
Chapter 2 9
A Historical Perspective on Charter Schools
Chapter 3 19
Some Personal Experiences
Chapter 4 25
Predictable Features and Problems
Chapter 5 39
Mergers as Creations of Settings
Chapter 6 51
Charter Schools
Chapter 7 66
The Manhattan Project, Charter Schools, and the Creation
of Settings
Chapter 8 77
Two Ambiguities
Chapter 9 88
A New High School
Chapter 10 96
Concluding Emphases
Chapter 11 100
Postscripts and Signals
References 113
About the Author 115