T he charter schools movement stands at a critical juncture.
Results are at the very heart of charter schools.
The charters, or contracts, that grant public funding to schools launched by grassroots groups of parents or teachers hinge on outcomes. If the school fails to produce the results it pledged to produce, the charter may be revoked. Charter schools promise the kind of direct accountability to public and parents that too often eludes government-run public schools. Most of the evidence of charter schools' effectiveness has been scattered and anecdotal rather than comprehensive and scientific. But as the first of the nation's 500 charter schools are faced with proving their worth or losing their contract, charter schools' friends and foes alike will be closely examining the data.