Michigan Charter School Evaluation

     Executive Summary (25 pages)
    Text of the Report (120 pages)
    Appendices (58 pages)
    Metaevaluation Report (May 1999)

The files are formatted for Acrobat Reader (*.pdf). You can download this shareware program by following the following link.

Charter schools offer students alternative and diverse educational programs, with the goal of improving academic achievement. The intention behind this new form of public schooling is that by providing further autonomy to schools, they can pursue innovative teaching practices and create a diversity of school options from which parents can choose. During the last three years, the number of charter schools (i.e., public school academies) in Michigan has grown rapidly and currently includes 106 operating schools across the state.
The Evaluation Center is one of two organizations asked by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) to evaluate the charter school initiative in Michigan. While we have not been charged with the task of evaluating individual schools, we will collect a large amount of school-specific data from the 51 schools that we visit. In evaluating the overall initiative, we will collect data and information from charter schools, authorizing agencies, management companies, MDE officials, as well as representatives of traditional public schools and intermediate school districts. This particular evaluation was started in the autumn of 1997 and will be completed in December 1998.

Description and
Plan of Evaluation

Research
Instruments

List of Resources
and Links

We think our approach to this evaluation is rather unique. It is marked by the following characteristics and principles:

We wish to promote an appreciation of and capacity to conduct evaluations that can be used and developed by each participating school in the future.
We perceive evaluation to be the systematic investigation (as
sessment) of the worth or merit of an object.dsfasdas
The most important purpose of the evaluation is not to prove, but to improve.
The evaluation has a holistic approach in that aspects of both formative and summative evaluation are included.
Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection will be used and interwoven during both the field work and report writing.
The design and conduct of our evaluation meet the applicable standards of The Program Evaluation Standards (Utility, Feasibility, Propriety, and Accuracy).

This web site contains a description of the evaluation as well as the timetable for the work. Copies of the instruments and other relevant documents are included, as well as a list of the schools with general background information. Finally, a list of resources and related links is included.

Project Director: Dr. Jerry Horn jerry.horn@wmich.edu	Project Manager: Dr. Gary Miron gary.miron@wmich.edu
Michigan Charter School Evaluation The Evaluation Center Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5178 Tel: (616) 387-5895 Fax: (616) 387-5923

Comments and/or questions regarding this page may be addressed to Gary Miron at gary.miron@wmich.edu

This page was last updated March 27, 1998.

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