Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of La Verne, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-160).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of La Verne, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-160).

Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-170).

Background: A great deal of research on charter schools has examined the neoliberal origins of charter schools, the academic performance of charter school students, charter school governance, and the balance between autonomy and accountability. However, there is a lack of research that has investigated the formal processes by which the accountability side of the equation is carried out, particularly in the area of charter renewal. No study has yet analyzed the weight given to factors used by charter authorizers in making high-stakes accountability decisions, and to whether modifying variables related to the population served impact the outcomes of these decisions. Also, while some studies have looked at charter school operations through the lens of institutional theory, no study has yet looked at changes made by charter operators in the face of high-stakes authorizer scrutiny, and whether those changes may impact the outcomes of the decisions. Purpose: To examine the factors explicitly considered by the board of the largest charter authorizer in the U.S., and determine whether the outcomes have been consistent with the established criteria, whether the outcomes show evidence of being affected by the nature of the population served by the charter school, and to look for evidence that changes suggested by institutional theory have an predictive value in understanding the outcomes of high-stakes authorizer decisions. Setting: Charters in Arizona authorized and considered for renewal by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools (ASBCS, the Board) during the period from June 2010 to November 2012. Participants: 117 Arizona charters granted by the ASBCS which were considered by for renewal during the study period. Research Design: Quantitative study. Data Collection and Analysis: Data were collected from the public records provided to the Board during the period of operation leading up to renewal, and provided to the Board during the renewal consideration. Analysis was conducted using multinomial logistic regression analysis with the IBM SPSS 22 statistical software package. Findings: Academic performance over the years immediately preceding the renewal consideration and the number of compliance actions taken over that same period significantly predicted whether the outcome of the renewal decision would be renewal without conditions, renewal with conditions, or denial. Several factors which had been suggested by the literature as having predictive value, including improvement in academic performance and financial viability, did not prove to have significant predictive value. Certain factors related to the population served by the charter, including socioeconomic status, grades served, and size of the school population, had predictive value in ways that generally supported the literature. Mimetic isomorphic changes as identified in this study did not prove to have significant predictive value regarding the outcome of the renewal decision. Findings regarding consistently low performing schools and the overturning of denial decisions on appeal lead to questions regarding the market efficacy assumptions made by neoliberal charter proponents. Conclusions: This study reinforces the importance of charter authorizers having clear, measureable criteria for high-stakes decisions, and for charter operators to understand those criteria and how they affect the operations of the schools.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1999. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2962. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as preliminary leaves i-iii. Includes bibliographical references 101-103.

As an alternative model of public education, charter schools were characterized as innovative, non-sectarian schools with fewer bureaucratic regulations than traditional schools, more freedom to implement educational reform, and accountable for results. The purpose of this policy research was to investigate charter school granting criteria, monitoring procedures, and renewal processes in states with operational charter schools to determine the extent to which renewal relates to established criteria. A secondary purpose was to synthesize and assimilate renewal research to assist in the development of an evaluative schema applicable to Florida's charter schools. This study investigated charter school renewal and non-renewal criteria found in legislation from 33 states with operational charter schools in the fall of 2000. Current practices used by sponsors in states without specific criteria in legislation and current practices used by sponsoring school districts in Florida were investigated. Legislation from 33 states was analyzed with attention to renewal and non-renewal criteria, the agency responsible for renewal, and the duration of charter and renewal terms. Personal communication with charter contacts verified renewal information. Content analysis was used to review non-renewal criteria in legislation. A literature review of charter school legislation, program evaluation, litigation related to charter schools, and an historical overview of charter schools was included. Data revealed no consistent criteria for charter renewal in practice throughout the nation. The majority of states identified the sponsoring agency as the renewal authority. Renewal criteria were directed toward a process or procedure rather than measurable standards. Renewal decisions were closely linked to the initial terms and conditions of the charter. Non-renewal criteria focused on standards requiring documentation or measurement. Commonalties were found between non-renewal criteria and criteria for revocation. Sponsors used on-going monitoring of the school's performance and operations to support renewal decisions. An evaluative schema could be developed for Florida districts to support statutory requirements for renewal if warranted. Recommendations for further study included: examination of experiences from states with a renewal protocol, analysis of reasons why schools were non-renewed, follow-up studies to review changes in states' guidelines, sponsor procedures, and program reviews in Florida districts.

No description available.

No description available.

The study examined mathematics and English student achievement, attendance rates, dropout rates, and expenditures per pupil for Texas high school students in both open-enrollment charter schools and traditional public high schools for the 2009–2010 school year. All data were assembled using archived information found at the Texas Education Agency (TEA). This information included the TEA report entitled Texas Open Enrollment Charter Schools Evaluation; TEA Snapshot Yearly Report; and Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) data files. Microsoft Excel (Version 2010) was used to randomly select traditional public high schools categorized as Title 1 and non-Title 1 for comparison with Title 1 and non-Title 1 open-enrollment charter high schools. The IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) (IBM Statistics Version 20) was used for a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) conducted between one independent variable (charter or traditional school) and five dependent variables (mathematics exit-level TAKS scores, English exit-level TAKS scores, attendance rates, dropout rates, and expenditures per pupil). Traditional public high school students had higher or better average mean values than charter schools for mathematics exit-level TAKS scores, English exit-level TAKS scores, attendance rates, dropout rates, and expenditures per pupil. The ANOVA found that four of the five dependent variables were statistically significant at the 0.05 confidence level for the independent variable of school type, whether charter or traditional school. There was no significant difference found between the schools for attendance rates. Effect size calculations, using the eta-squared method, confirmed the comparisons with significant differences.

Thesis (M.P.H.), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / Abstract The Patient Rights’ Charter is one of several progressive health policies in South Africa with disappointing implementation in practice. Barriers to implementation have already been described. Policy analysis theory and empirical studies suggest that power and resistance may contribute to implementors’ responses to policies. This secondary analysis of existing semistructured interviews with health providers in Limpopo explicitly examined the influence of power and resistance on their implementation of the Patients’ Rights Charter. Open coding yielded themes of implementation experience, to which a deductive analysis applied a heuristic framework, derived from the literature, to examine power and resistance. The critical importance of implementors in translating policy into practice, and of discursive manifestations of power, were reiterated. Resonances in the data of the functionalist ‘sick role’ brought together surveillance, expert knowledge and the loss of health workers’ influential voice, in a way not previously discussed. Implications for future management strategies are considered.