Recentralizing Decentralization? Educational Management Organizations and Charter Schools' Educational Programs. Occasional Paper.

This paper examines ways in which the operation of charter schools by "comprehensive management" educational management organizations (EMOs) influences the decentralized nature of charter schools, particularly in the area of educational issues. It provides a comparative case study of three for-profit EMOs that provide comprehensive management and six of the schools they operate. Based on interviews with principals, board members, teachers, and company staff members, it describes the company's approach to educational issues and the relationship between the company and each school regarding these issues. The analysis compared the designs used by the companies and the influence of the design and overall company approach on the process of developing an educational program for the specific school. The report finds that although the three companies and six charter schools demonstrated a variability of approaches, there were some common threads. Each EMO demonstrated a commitment to school leadership, even when they implemented divergent management techniques, ranging from a top-down approach to more collaborative approaches. For schools, understanding the nature of the designs offered by EMOs and where these designs "sit" can lend important insights into what role the school will play in the educational programs offered. (Contains 50 references.) (RJM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 'Z . _ Governance, Finance, Policymaking and Management (Grant #0ERI-R308A60003) through the Consortium for . ,n Policy Research in Education (CPRE). The opinions expressed in this research are those of the authors and do not el:, necessarily reflect the views of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, the National Institute on w. ) Educational Governance, Finance, Policymaking and Management, the Office of Educational Research and Q Improvement, the United States Department of Education or the institutional partners of CPRE. ''z Occasional Paper No. 60 National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education Teachers College, Columbia University Recentralizing Decentralization? Educational Management Organizations and Charter Schools' Educational Programs U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) O This document has been reproduced as '1 received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Katrina E. Bulk ley bulkley@rci.rutgers. edu Rutgers University Graduate School of Education DRAFT: Do not cite without permission of author. 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY I,. a , 1. '/ TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, November, 2002. Funding for this research was provided by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Educational