Award Date

1-1-2008

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Committee Member

Patti Bruza-Chance

Number of Pages

173

Abstract

This study investigated the perceptions of charter school principals regarding ten provisions relevant to charter school legislation. In addition, this study determined if differences existed between the opinion of experts and the perception of charter school principals regarding the strengths and weaknesses related to ten provisions of charter school legislation. This study assessed the perceptions of practitioners, charter school principals, regarding charter school legislation. Experts within the charter school movement ranked and critiqued various provisions of charter school legislation from their frame of reference as policy analysts. However, charter school principals confront the ramifications of charter school legislation on a daily basis. The Center for Education Reform in their report, "Charter School Laws Across the States 2000: Ranking Score Card and Legislative Profiles" (2000), rated thirty-seven states' charter school legislation according to ten provisions inherent to the concept of charter schools. Based upon the instrument used by The Center for Education Reform (2000), in which experts in policy analysis assessed charter school legislation, a questionnaire was developed to obtain similar assessments from practicing charter school principals. A questionnaire was distributed to all charter school principals within the states of Texas, California, Michigan and Pennsylvania. In addition, telephone interviews were conducted with two randomly selected principals from each state in order to confirm, enrich or query data derived from the questionnaire; Although experts within the charter school movement rated provisions of charter school legislation, this study assessed the perception of practitioners, charter school principals, regarding charter school legislation. This study suggested that a significant difference existed between the perception of charter school principals and the opinion of experts regarding provisions of charter school legislation. In addition, the results of this study suggested that the ideal charter school concept was not being implemented within the charter school movement based on the high level of bureaucratic oversight and the low level autonomy within the charter schools.

Keywords

Charter; Charter School; Charter School Principals; Legislation; Perception; Principals; Provisions; Schools; School Choice

Controlled Subject

School management and organization; Public administration

File Format

pdf

File Size

4300.8 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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Rights

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