Research: Charter Schools and the North Side

General Charter School Information:

Rosenthal, Lisa. Greatschools.net, November 2006.
Seven Things to Know About Charter Schools

Minnesota Association of Charter Schools

US Charter Schools Minnesota State Profile

Articles about Charter Schools (many are editorial or opinion):

Reining in Charter Schools, “The New York Times”, May 10, 2006
Charter schools “are not a magical solution to the achievement problem”

Charter Schools and Private Profits, “The School Administrator”, May 2000. “The emergence of educational management organizations to run charters raises questions about the pursuit of profits and the quality of education”

Stuart Wells, Amy. Washingtonpost.com, December 29, 2004.
Charter Schools: Lessons in Limits
This article discusses the history of the charter school reform movement and would agree with Kleibard that reform is initiated by socio-political beliefs. The author edited the book: Where Charter School Policy Fails: The Problems of Accountability and Equity.

Finn, Chester E. Jr., Dayton Daily News, November 18, 1999
Charter Foes No Friends of Education
“Why does the education establishment so hate these benign schools? By showing that all children really can learn, they pressure the "system" to change its ways.”

National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Studying Achievement in Charter Schools: What Do We Know?
A summary report and commentary on “38 comparative analyses of charter and district performance” (Analysis charts on page 9-25)

Minneapolis Public Schools:

McCallum, Laura. Minnesota Public Radio. March 20, 2007.
Minneapolis targets six schools for closure

McCallum, Laura. Minnesota Public Radio. April 13, 2007.
Minneapolis school board votes to close six schools

Demographics of MPS according to the Minnesota Dept. of Education’s “District Report Card”

Destination Excellence and the North Side Initiative


Minneapolis Public Schools and Charter Schools:

Star Tribune Editorial: A good use for empty Minneapolis schools, June 28, 2007.
School board should lease space to effective charter schools

Brandt, Steve, Star Tribune, June 19, 2007 – 9:38 PM
Minneapolis inclined to rent out empty schools
“Majority of school board appears open to leasing school space to at least one charter school.”

Kersten, Katherine. Wall Street Journal Editorial Page, March 2, 2006
Black Flight: The exodus to charter schools.

AYP in Minneapolis Public Schools

AYP in Minnesota Charter Schools

CI 5155

So far my class, Contemporary Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment has been very challenging and interesting. The books we read have definitely caused me to think about the causes of curriculum reform and reasons for certain reforms' successes or failures. Some of the books, especially Against Common Sense: Teaching & Learning Toward Social Justice by Kumashiro, I Won't Learn From You! by Kohl, White Architects Of Black Education by Watkins, and Widening the Circle by Sapon-Shevin, have challenged me to think about hidden (or blatant) curriculum that does not teach the perspectives of all students and undermines the cultural, religious, and other diversity that exist in schools.

We had the opportunity to attend as a class the Hope Collaborative event on June 18th at the Hear of the Beast Theatre. We listened to Eric Mahmoud discuss the success of Harvest Prep Charter School in Minneapolis and also Dr. Lawrence Hernandez from Cesar Chavez Academy in Colorado. It was really interesting to hear how these two schools created success and high achievement-- it seemed the common thread was community, student and parent involvement and commitment.

Partially because of the speakers, and also the fact that I feel "forced" to "hate" charter schools (as a "regular" public school teacher), I am currently researching the effect of charter schools on enrollment in Minneapolis Public Schools on the North Side. I decided to focus on the North Side since I live there, and the achievement gap in that area is the largest in the Minneapolis school district. Soon I will post some links to a variety of sources that offer differing perspectives on charter schools, their effectiveness, and how they affect enrollment in MPS on the North Side.