Description

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In his new book, Zachary W. Oberfield investigates the question of whether charter schools cultivate different teaching climates from those found in traditional public schools. To answer this question, Oberfield examined hundreds of thousands of teacher surveys from across the nation. The result is a trenchant analysis that deepens our understanding of what the charter experiment means for the future of US public education.

Are Charters Different? shows that the teaching climates of charter and public schools do differ in important ways and explores the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. In addition, the book inquires into critical differences within the charter sector, between for-profit and nonprofit charters, and between independently operated schools and those that are part of educational management organizations. Ultimately, the book argues, the choice between charter and public schools should be more about what we value in public education and consider acceptable trade-offs.

About the Author

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Zachary W. Oberfield is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Haverford College. His research interests include schools, leadership, and street-level bureaucracy. He is the author of Becoming Bureaucrats: Socialization at the Front Lines of Government Service, which studies the development of police officers and welfare caseworkers during the first two years of their careers. It won the 2015 Best Book Award from the Public and Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management.