U.S. Department of Education: Promoting Educational Excellence for all Americans

A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

ESEA: Charter Schools Grants - 2005

CFDA Number: 84.282 - Charter Schools


Program Goal: To support the creation of a large number of high-quality charter schools.
Objective 8.1 of 1: Encourage the development of a large number of high-quality charter schools that are free from state or local rules that inhibit flexible operation, are held accountable for enabling students to reach challenging state performance standards, and are open to all students.
Indicator 8.1.1 of 2: State legislation: The number of states that have charter school legislation.
Targets and Performance Data Assessment of Progress Sources and Data Quality
The number of states with charter school legislation (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico)
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
1995 12  
1996 19  
1997 27  
1998 31  
1999 38  
2000 38 40
2001 39 42
2002 40 42
2003 41 43
2004   44
2005   44


 
Additional Source Information: State educational agencies (SEA); state legislatures.

Frequency: Annually.
Collection Period: 2003 - 2004
Data Available: January 2005
Validated By: On-Site Monitoring By ED.

Limitations: There is variation in the definition of charter school and authorizing agency in state charter school legislation.

 
Indicator 8.1.2 of 2: Charter operations: The number of charter schools in operation.
Targets and Performance Data Assessment of Progress Sources and Data Quality
The number of charter schools in operation
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
1995
100
 
1996
255
 
1997
428
 
1998
790
 
1999
1,100
 
2000
1,700
2,060
2001
2,110
2,667
2002
2,431
3,000
2003
2,700
3,000
2004
2,996
3,000
2005
 
3,300


Explanation: There has been a positive trend toward meeting this objective.  
Additional Source Information: Center for Education Reform Annual Survey: State Education Agencies.

Frequency: Annually.
Collection Period: 2003 - 2004
Data Available: January 2005
Validated By: On-Site Monitoring By ED.
On site monitoring by ED and data from the Center for Education Reform.

Limitations: Differences in the definition of charter schools (i.e., some states count multiple sites as single charters, while others count them as multiple charters) cause variability in the counts among SEAs. There is sometimes disagreement about numbers of charter schools in operation among the agencies that do the counting.

 

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