Monographs

I have written numerous monographs over the years which are available for download free of charge at www.NationalCharterSchools.org. I have linked titles to a few of my most popular articles below to make the download process easier.

The Five Dysfunctions of Charter School Boards
Always Carry Dry Socks: Six Lessons for Charter School Leaders I Learned in the Marine Corps
Good to Gone: Five Lessons from Research About Charter Schools That Make the Leap . . . Into Extinction
Let’s Do the Numbers: Seven Practices for Sound Fiscal Management of Charter Schools
Measurement: The Key to Charter School Marketing
The Seven Outs: Strategic Planning Made Easy for Charter Schools(Excerpted from my book)

If you would like to be notified when new ones become available, just send me an email.

Research

Doctoral students and other researchers may be interested in reading my dissertation on dissolved charter schools. With its publication in 2008, I became the first researcher in the country to study the actions, decisions, and characteristics of the boards of dissolved charter schools.

Abstract

In 1991, Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school law, thereby creating a new vehicle through which public schools could be funded, operated, and held accountable. At present, 40 states and the District of Columbia charter approximately 4,000 schools, serving around one million children. Though still widely misunderstood by the public, charter schools are public schools. Charters are secular schools that in most states, must hire certified teachers, administer state and federal assessments of student performance, adhere to spending and auditing regulations, meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind, comply with open enrollment laws (i.e., cannot discriminate, etc.), comply with states’ open meetings laws and the Freedom of Information Act and, are overseen by a higher educational authority—an authorizer. In fact, charter schools only differ from conventional public schools in four key aspects. First, board members are usually appointed rather than elected. Second, enrollment and employment are voluntary (i.e., neither students nor staff are assigned). Third, charter schools usually possess some degree of flexibility in selecting curriculum and instructional means. Lastly—but critically—charter schools are accountable in two ways in which conventional public schools rarely are: First, a charter school can be closed if it fails to meet various standards set forth in a time-bounded performance contract (i.e., charter). It can also dissolve if it does not attract and retain an enrollment sufficient for its fiscal viability. In a word, a charter school can be closed if it fails to develop internal or external accountability, or both. It is the latter aspect with which this study is concerned. Although 588 charter schools have closed since 1992, the topic has not been widely researched. Moreover, the impact on school closures of the actions, decisions, and characteristics of the entity ultimately accountable for the school—the board—has been studied even less. Using a mixed methods design, this study found that, more than any other reason, charter schools have dissolved due to insufficient enrollment and that the actions, decisions, and characteristics of the boards have adversely impacted dissolved schools.

My Dissertation.pdf