Characteristics of Competitive Pressure Created by Charter Schools: Charter Schools, their Impact on Traditional Public Districts and the Role of District Leadership

• Main Authors: Cummins, Cathy, Ricciardelli, Bernadette Anne, Steedman, Peter
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Boston College 2014
• Subjects: Charter Schools; Competitive Effect of Charter Schools; Educational Marketplace; Response to Charter School Competition; School Choice; School Choice Competition
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/3806

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.