Resources

Charter Schools

US Charter Schools Web site
The US Charter Schools Web site provides a wide range of information and links to resources to guide charter schools in every phase of their development—from start-up to expansion, to renewal. The site includes a national calendar of events and a community-exchange feature.
http://www.uscharterschools.org

Education Commission of the States
The Education Commission of the States includes both charter schools and charter districts as issue topics on its Web site. The site includes a searchable database on high school research and high school policy topics, including closing the achievement gap.
http://www.ecs.org

National Charter School Research Project
Based at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, the National Charter School Research Project is developing a database of studies on charter school achievement and collecting charter school data from the states. This project is generating several research studies, focusing on student achievement in charter schools and on building capacity to scale up charter schools.
http://www.crpe.org

National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Web site provides a variety of online publications related to charter school development, policies, and performance, a charter blog, and a database for comparing charter school policies.
http://www.publiccharters.org

Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation provides links to major studies and to over 50 other organizations’ Web sites in the area of charter schools and choice.
http://www.edexcellence.net

Center for Education Reform
The Center for Education Reform provides upto- date reports on charter schools and choice activity around the country. The Web site also links to "fast facts" and resources designed with parents in mind. A searchable database identifies resources and charter schools in each state.
http://www.edreform.com

U.S. Department of Education: Public Charter Schools Program
The Office of Innovation and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education operates the public Charter Schools Program, which supports the planning, development, and initial implementation of charter schools. Other grants target support for charter school facilities.
http://www.ed.gov/programs/charter/index.html

Achievement Gap

Education Trust
The Education Trust Web site provides reports, resources, data, and policy information about the achievement gap.
http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust

SchoolMatters
SchoolMatters is a Web site of Standard & Poor’s that provides national-, state-, district-, and school-level information about school demographics and student achievement. It includes a search tool to identify charter schools and another tool to compare their data to those of other district and state schools.
http://www.schoolmatters.com