This book presents the first published accounts and evaluations of the first free market in education in the U.S., Arizona charter schools.. The charter school is fast becoming one of the most significant attempts at public education reform in this country. Over 1100 charter schools operate in twenty-seven states, with several hundred more to be added in the next two years. School Choice in the Real World looks at the charter school movement through a highly focused lens: it examines charter schools in Arizona, which currently account for nearly one-quarter of all charter schools. Using this state as a case study, the editors examine the experiences of actual charter school operators, social scientific analysis, policy discussions, and criticism and forecasting for the future. School choice is the most talked about reform of American public education, yet writings about choice remain highly speculative because no state has adopted a free market approach to education--until now. The charter school is fast becoming one of the most significant attempts at public education reform in this country. Over 1100 charter schools operate in twenty-seven states, with several hundred more to be added in the next two years. School Choice in the Real World looks at the charter school movement through a highly focused lens: it examines charter schools in Arizona, which currently account for nearly one-quarter of all charter schools.Since 1994, Arizona has implemented a charter school law with the lowest barriers to entry in the nation. As a result, Arizona has more than 200 charter school campuses. Some districts have even lost more than 10% of their students to charter schools. Using the state of Arizona as a case study, the editors examine the experiences of actual charter school operators, social scientific analysis, policy discussions, and criticism and forecasting for the future. The editors bring together academics, policy-makers, and practicioners, and they explain and evaluate how school choice works in the real world.

Real World School Choice: Arizona Charter Schools; (Robert Maranto, Scott Milliman, Frederick Hess, and April Gresham); Theoretical and National Perspectives; And This Parent Went to Market: Education as Public vs. Private Good; (L. Elaine Halchin); The Death of One Best Way: Charter Schools as Reinventing Government; (Robert Maranto); Congress and Charter Schools; (David L.; Leal); Charter Schools: A National; Innovation, an Arizona Revolution; (Bryan C. Hassel); Social Scientists Look; at Arizona Charter Schools; The Wild West of; Education Reform: Arizona Charter Schools; (Robert Maranto and April Gresham); Why Arizona Embarked on School Reform (and Nevada Did Not); (Stephanie Timmons-Brown and Frederick Hess); Do Charter Schools Improve District Schools? Three Approaches to the Question; (Robert Maranto, Scott Milliman, Frederick Hess, and April Gresham); Closing Charters: How A Good Theory Failed in Practice; (Gregg A. Garn and Robert T. Stout); Nothing New: Curricula in Arizona Charter Schools; (Robert T. Stout and Gregg A. Garn); How Arizona Teachers View; School Reform; (Frederick Hess, Robert Maranto, Scott Milliman and April Gresham); Practitioners Look at Arizona Charter Schools; The Empowerment of Market-Based School Reform; (Lisa Graham Keegan); A Voice From the State Legislature: Dont Do What Arizona Did!; (Mary Hartley); Public Schools and the Charter Movement: An Emerging Relationship; (Lee L. Hager); Whose Idea Was This Anyway? The Challenging Metamorphosis from Private to Charter; (Jim Spencer); Lessons; In Lieu of Conclusions: Tentative Lessons From a Contested Frontier; (Robert Maranto, Scott Milliman, Frederick Hess, and April Gresham).