A Study of Leadership and Charter School Community Outreach

Abstract

Few topics in education are more polarizing than school choice and charter schools. Charter schools are on the one hand hailed as a continuation of the civil rights movement and on the other criticized for destroying the common school ideal. Much of this debate hinges on claims of accessibility. Some claim that charter schools provide students in underserved areas with additional access to a quality education. Others claim that charter schools are less accessible to socioeconomically disadvantaged students and English Language Learners. However, charter school theory implies a principle of equal access insofar as any student may apply and enrollment is determined by a public random lottery. This research explored particular cases of leaders who are or have had an opportunity to significantly influence a charter school’s outreach policy. By doing so, the findings of this study shed light on the constraints and advantages that charter school leaders perceive as being relevant to charter school community development. There are two main results of this study. The first result of this study is that charter schools have two primary purposes for carrying out community outreach: a) to create personal meaning for stakeholders, b) to communicate the purpose of the charter school. The second result of this study is that charter school leaders struggle to satisfy differing notions of equity and access. The general conclusion of this study is that more attention needs to be trained on the nature of the relationship between charter schools and their authorizers. Not only is antagonism at this level unproductive, it ignores the potential lessons that both parties can learn from one another. This is an important topic in the light of recent policy shifts in education at both the state and federal levels emphasizing greater local control.%%%%Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Management – Drexel University, 2016