Phi Delta Kappan

Charter schools claim to offer a solid education to children whose neighborhood schools are failing, but they're also an admission that we've given up on holding the traditional school system accountable.

Most discussions about charter schools involve a tangle of differing histories, theories, values, and facts. If proponents and opponents looked at the facts instead of relying on their philosophies, we might make progress at improving schools.

Creation of the nation's first charter school law surprised even its most ardent supporters. Today, schools need more collaboration from all corners in order to deliver a better education.

Both forms of public schools can share the blame for failing students. But, more important, they should share the wealth when the find successful concepts that can help all students.

Charter schools, on average, don't have an academic advantage over traditional public schools, but they do have a significant risk of leading to more segregation.

The original charter school vision included heavy doses of teacher contribution in all aspects of curriculum and administration. That is not how they evolved. Until now.

Teachers, with very different experiences teaching very similar students, tear through artificial boundaries of school politics to ask how they can better serve students.

The flexibility of the charter school law in New Mexico allowed one school to design a growth and evaluation plan that helped teachers and students.

A small group of New York City teachers channeled their disgust with “Waiting for Superman” into their own film about the realities of the current education reform movement.

Children and teachers discover new ways of teaching and learning in a university lab setting.

Reformers are correct in calling attention to current labor practices in education, but they are wrong to believe that bargaining prohibitions represent the proper remedy.

Twitter can be a smart instructional tool that links students with real-time information and connects them to authentic discussions beyond school walls.

Even as students, standards, and technology move ahead, high schools stay stuck in an old paradigm. Time to move on!

Ethics occupies the space between the law and human behavior.

To increase college persistence and graduation, we must get better at teaching high school students the on-the-ground skills they will need to be successful in college.

Stop assigning homework, and watch the learning grow.

An after-school program encourages at-risk teens to stay in school by providing tutoring, therapy, and enrichment.

Immersing preservice teachers in an unfamiliar culture helps prepare them to teach children from cultures different from their own.