Charter Schools Decade

The Charter Schools Decade provides a thorough, unbiased explanation of the charter schools phenomenon. Now well into its second decade, the charter schools movement has not been scrutinized carefully; it has enjoyed largely positive press generated by its advocates and occasionally some bitter criticism of opponents. Lockwood also examines problems and obstacles that charter schools need to overcome in order to succeed, and she gives a glimpse of what the next decade holds for charter schools. This book explores: What about charter schools is problematic, What the movement's historical antecedents consist of, What its legislation looks like, What problems are created when trying to evaluate the movement. The Charter Schools Decade is written for those interested in issues related to school choice in an age of the federal "No Child Left Behind" legislation.

Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood is an educational policy analyst based in Washington, D.C. and a former issues analysis director at the American Association of School Administrators from 2001-2003. She is the author of over 100 articles on education as well as numerous educational reports, monographs, and four books: Tracking: Conflicts and Resolutions, Character Education: Controversy and Consensus, Conversations With Educational Leaders: Contemporary Viewpoints on Education in America, and Standards: From Policy to Practice. As a policy analyst and writer, Lockwood was active in a host of special projects sponsored by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Education. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lockwood initiated and directed two nationally respected publications programs for the National Center on Effective Secondary Schools (1986-90) and the National Center on Effective Schools (1990-94). She is a former honorary fellow in both the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lockwood is the recipient of the 1993 American Educational Research Association Interpretive Scholarship Award for relating research to practice, and the Distinguished Achievement Award of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.