Thesis advisor: Joseph M. O'Keefe / This mixed methods sequential explanatory study applied the economic theory of the educational marketplace to examine district superintendents' perceptions of charter school competition and its impact on the administrative and instructional innovations launched in their districts. The initial intent of the 1993 legislation on charter schools in the Commonwealth stated specifically that charter schools would serve as an impetus for the development and dissemination of innovation in the districts in which they were allowed to reside. The study examined whether superintendents reported reform activities consistent with the language in the Massachusetts Education Reform Act, which was intended to spur innovation in charter schools and traditional districts. This dissertation asked superintendents about administrative and instructional innovations that have taken place as a result of increased competition from the educational marketplace. Though competition from school choice and vocational schools were referenced, the study focused on the impact of charter schools. The findings indicate that the innovations initiated by district superintendents are targeting student populations that are perceived to be most likely to attend local charter schools; namely those students considered by superintendents to be high academic achievers. In response, most superintendents reported innovative marketing strategies rather than programs focused on teaching and learning. Superintendents rarely mentioned programs designed to assist students from low-income families, English language learners, or students with special needs. Finally, superintendents reported minimal meaningful collaboration between districts and charter schools, except in three isolated and unique circumstances. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Although numerous efforts have been made to enact the concept of sustainability in schools around the world, a single, replicable model of sustainability education fails to exist. Without a replicable model to follow or adapt, educators looking to enact the concept of sustainability are left to their own devices for deciding what this orientation towards schooling might look like within the contexts of their communities and with respect tot eh normative agenda of schooling in their country. Such a process is challenging. It calls for--among other things--an examination of the core attitudes, beliefs, skills and behaviors that individuals are expected to possess as members of a sustainable society. This descriptive case study documents how the founding members of a secondary charter school worked together with students, parents and members of the local and regional community to create a school-wide model of sustainability education. It also documents the complexities involved with enacting sustainability in a charter school setting. Field observations, document analysis and participant interviews were the primary sources of data collected in this ten-month case study. Michael Fullan's (2007) Change Process Model and Elliot Eisner's (1992) conceptualization of schools as dynamic ecologies were used as theoretical frameworks for study design, data collection and analysis. Findings reveal how the founding members of this charter schools took an adaptive-emergent approach to designing sustainability education. Findings also reveal how the opening of this charter schools was met with resistance and how this resistance led the founders to make theoretical and structural compromises.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine how teachers, parents, and students viewed their charter school as effective when effectiveness was defined by the following 11 characteristics: (a) instructional leadership, (b) clear mission, (c) safe and orderly environment, (d) positive school climate, (e) high expectations, (f) frequent monitoring, (g) basic skills, (h) opportunities for learning, (i) parent and community involvement, (j) professional development and (k) teacher involvement. Two exemplary open-enrollment charter schools in Texas were used in this study. All 24 teacher, parent, and student participants completed a questionnaire that addressed characteristics analyzed for each group. The 72 participants in this quantitative study were randomly chosen to respond to items on the School Effectiveness Questionnaire developed by Baldwin, Freeman, Coney, Fading, and Thomas. Data from the completed questionnaires were reported using descriptive statistics and frequency data. Major research findings for the study were as follows: 1. There was agreement among teachers, parents, and students regarding 5 characteristics. These characteristics were: (a) safe and orderly environment, (b) positive school climate, (c) high student expectations, (d) frequent student assessment, and (e) monitoring of achievement and basic skills. 2. Teachers and parents agreed their school demonstrated effective instructional leadership, a clear and focused mission, and a maximized opportunity for learning. On the other hand, students were uncertain their school provided maximum opportunities for learning. 3. Only parents and students were in agreement concerning the parental involvement in their school. In contrast, teachers were uncertain their school provided parent and community involvement. 4. Teachers were also uncertain their school provided strong professional development and included them in the decision-making process for the school.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Previous research conducted in regular public and private schools has shown that parent involvement in a child's schooling is positively related to student outcomes (Henderson and Mapp, 2002). Though the creation of charter schools has purportedly expanded the possibilities for families to participate in their children's schooling, little is known about actual practices of parent involvement in charter schools. This case study explores the nature of parent involvement in a sixth- through twelfth- grade, urban charter school in order to verify and extend findings from research conducted in other school settings. The data come from surveys of and group interviews with faculty members, families, and students; observations of parent involvement events; and individual interviews with the school's founders. Two prevalent themes emerged from this study. The first reveals a sharp contrast between the founders' philosophical orientations with respect to home-school relationships and those of the families, students, and faculty members. The founders believe that the school and home are, and should be, distinct and separate institutions of support for student achievement and adolescent development. The second theme uncovered in this study concerns the faculty's citations of "cultural difference" as a key justification for why involvement at the school has proven challenging. The study shows that these perspectives shape the school's practices of partnership with families and that the philosophical and ideological positions taken by school personnel are best understood against a broader socio-historical context. The problems with parent involvement exhibited in this study are viewed as both a product of the underlying philosophical assumptions about school and family partnerships held by the founders, as well as a continuation of historically grounded patterns of home and school interaction as articulated by the faculty. The case study of this charter school verifies previous research and extends our understandings of home-school partnership into the new context ofthe charter school. / 2031-01-01

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The advent of charter schools has been one of the biggest reform initiatives in the history of schooling in the US: charters have significantly altered the landscape of many of our country’s largest public-school systems (Bracey, 2002; Hassel, 2009; Hill, 2006). Recent studies have examined a number of aspects of charter school leadership; however, there has been little research on charter school chief executive officers (CEO). The CEO is a relatively new role that oversees the entire charter school or network and is almost always independent of the principal. This mixed-methods study examined the organizational dynamics of Philadelphia Charter School CEOs by using a survey, personal interviews, and quantitative data analysis to obtain information regarding all CEOs of Philadelphia. Interviews were focused on the CEO job role and day-to-day duties, CEO successes and struggles, and what prior experiences prepared CEOs for this role. The quantitative findings show two correlations: suggesting that male CEOs and CEOs of stand-alone schools are in charge of schools with higher school performance. Five common themes emerged across CEOs during interviews: loneliness, overconfidence, under preparedness, non-traditional career path, and having a prior work experience in the field of education was crucial to success. Lastly, it was discovered that certifications and prior education experience were not commonplace for current CEOs, 19 of the 64 CEOs in this study did not have prior education experience. / Educational Leadership

As an avenue of educational reform and organizational restructuring within public education, school choice has gained in popularity over the last twenty years. The charter school movement, in particular, has enjoyed a high growth rate since its introduction in 1992. Advocates of charter schools claim the schools' regulatory freedom and unique structure foster improved academic performance and educational success. However, the literature shows charter school students' performance is typically below and, at best, on par with that of neighboring public school peers. Given this mismatch of purported academic advantage and observed performance, this study aims to add to the literature by explaining why parents choose charter schools and remain in charter schools. Using the Texas Education Agency's 2006 Survey of Charter School and Traditional School Parents this study will examine why parents consider different aspects of schooling more important than others. Survey responses will be analyzed to explain possible relationships between factors affecting charter school enrollment, race, and socioeconomic status. / Master of Science

Grounding its approach in historical and discursive institutionalist frameworks, this thesis examines the process of judicial review through an evaluation of Hogg et al.’s Charter dialogue hypothesis as it pertains to judicial invalidation of sections of the Charter of the French Language (CFL) and the legislative sequels produced by the National Assembly of Quebec (i.e. Bills 178 and 86). When examined from an historical institutionalist perspective, the National Assembly of Quebec appears to have strategized its response through an assertion of parliamentary sovereignty, rather than the desire to engage in a “dialogue” with the Supreme Court of Canada. However, a closer examination of how the Bourassa government crafted Bill 178 reveals that the first ‘legislative response’ to the Supreme Court’s decision in Devine and Ford was crafted exclusively by the executive branch, in virtual secrecy among a handful of Bourassa’s cabinet members. Displeased with the outcome of Bill 178, Anglophone civil society actors challenged the legitimacy of the CFL, as well as the notwithstanding mechanism at an international level, with their submission of Ballantyne, Davidson, McIntyre v. Canada to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). In 1993, the UNHRC ruled that Bill 178 violated sections of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The UNHRC’s decision eventually pressured the National Assembly of Quebec to amend Bill 178 with the passage of Bill 86, and consequently brought the Supreme Court’s remedies into partial effect. However, Quebec’s subsequent amendment to the CFL, Bill 86, was not a “legislative sequel” in response to judicial nullification; rather it was primarily a response to comply to international human rights norms. Bill 86 amended sections 58 and 68 of the CFL, but contrary to the recommendations of linguistic equality set forth by the Supreme Court, the Bourassa government ensured that French remained the predominant language on signage. The evidence in this thesis suggests that Charter compliance was an almost secondary effect caused by the primary objective of Quebec’s adherence to international human rights norms for the purpose of continued participation in international affairs. In its rejection of the Charter dialogue model, this thesis uncouples the pairing of the notwithstanding clause with the notion of parliamentary sovereignty and, in doing so, raises critical questions regarding the roles of the provincial executive and legislative branches during the process of constitutional interpretation. This thesis concludes that in lieu of Charter dialogue, a modified version of Baker’s model of coordinate interpretation is a more appropriate model of judicial review for summarizing the interaction of actors within the case studies of Bills 178 and 86.

Thesis advisor: Joseph M. O'Keefe / This mixed methods sequential explanatory designed study applied the economic theory of marketplace competition as a way to frame superintendents' perceptions of the characteristics of students and parents seeking charter schools. Although studies on charter schools are abundant, there is limited literature on this particular aspect of market competition between traditional districts and charter schools. Through surveys and interviews with superintendents across Massachusetts, this study found that most of the superintendents reported a perception that charter schools "cream-skim" higher achieving students and under-serve or "crop" high needs or more costly students - particularly special education and English language learner students. Additionally, superintendents generally perceive that parents were most likely to choose a charter school because of a perception that it was a more elite option and that parents making those choices were more likely to have been engaged in a child's educational life. Many superintendents reported a strong pressure to find ways to retain high-achieving students while expressing resentment that charter schools under-serve high needs students. In three small urban districts, however, superintendents described charter schools that enroll high-needs students proportional to or exceeding the district's student population, filled a gap or met an unmet need, or provided a specialization from which the district could learn. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

The political and economic pressures for transformation in South Africa have been documented in an array of policies, pieces of legislation, regulatory and statutory frameworks, and also in governance codes for both public and private companies. Specifically for the mining industry, the Mining Charter comprises of transformation targets and measurement criteria that are presented in a scorecard to be achieved by the mining industry by 2014. Additionally, the King reports on governance have specific requirements that listed companies must meet in terms of employment equity and demographic representation to achieve board diversity and independent boards. The aim of this study was to report on the board transformation status in the mining industry, as well as the progress that has been made towards meeting transformation targets. The 2011 annual reports were used to capture profiles and composition of board of directors in Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed mining companies. Interviews were used to gain insight on the transformation status, initiatives undertaken and challenges of transformation in the mining industry. The research findings from the analysis of board members demographic and career profiles shows that little has been achieved to ensure equal representation and diversity on the boards of directors. Further analysis of the status of transformation by JSE listed mining companies to realise transformation, shows that transformation in the mining industry is still a major challenge. Whilst some initiatives have been undertaken and some progress has been made, this study reveals that the barriers to transformation in the South African mining industry are racial issues and tensions based on colour, the lack of skills caused by the education system, a war for talent, a lack of mentorship and no stakeholder engagement between the mining industry and government / Business Management