Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to a number of people for their contributions to this report. We would first like to thank the 225 charter schools who gave generously of their time to respond to our telephone survey. The information that they provided formed the basis of this report. We would like to extend a special thanks to the staff, students, and parents of the 42 charter schools who allowed us to visit and helped us understand their schools, their students, and their communities. These schools made and will continue to make significant contributions our work.

Many others read and provided invaluable feedback on successive drafts of the report. We appreciate the thoughtful comments of the Study's Advisory Board both on framing the issues presented in the report and on its substance. The members of the Advisory Board are José Afonso, Massachusetts Department of Education; Rexford Brown, P.S. 1 Charter School; Joan Buckley, American Federation of Teachers; Lee Cronbach, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University; Gary K. Hart, Institute for Education Reform; Ted Kolderie, Center for Policy Studies; Robert L. Linn, University of Colorado; and Robert McClure, National Education Association. In addition William Lowe Boyd, Department of Education Policy Studies at The Pennsylvania State University and Joe Nathan, Center for School Change, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota--members of the Advisory Board as of January, 1997--provided insightful and helpful advice and feedback.

A group of peer reviewers selected by the Department of Education provided insightful comments on key points of the report. This group included: Mark Buechler, Indiana Policy Center; Gary Sykes, Michigan State University; and Steve Kaufman, National Center for Education Statistics.

A group of reviewers from the U.S. Department of Education reviewed drafts of the report and provided invaluable suggestions for improvement. This group included: Arthur Cole, Director, School Improvement Programs; John Fiegel, Coordinator, Charter School State Grant Program, OESE; Melissa Oppenheimer, Office of the Undersecretary; Jonathan Schnur, Office of the Secretary; and Stephanie Stullich, Planning and Evaluation Services.

The authors also would like to express our sincere appreciation to Patricia Lines and Joseph Conaty of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement for their continuing support for the research as well as for the considerable contributions they have made towards shaping both the Study and this report.

While appreciating the contributions of all of the reviewers, the authors accept responsibility for the content of the report.
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[Preface]

[Executive Summary]