Local Dining
Discover great cafes and new restaurants in Nashville. More...
Campus Map
Explore the beautiful campus of Vanderbilt University. More...
Biographies
Meet the academic scholars prior to the conference. More...
The conference papers will be published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates in an edited volume for public dissemination next year. You may read the first version of the conference papers online. More...

Charter Schools: What Fosters Growth and Outcomes?
The National Center on School Choice is hosting a national conference on charter school research for academic researchers and policymakers. The conference will be held at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from September 28-29, 2006. More...
The National Conference on Charter School Research is sponsored by the National Center on School Choice,the Learning Sciences Institute, and the Peabody Center for Education Policy with support from the United States Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences.

All conference proceedings will be conducted in the Wyatt Center's Rotunda (Fourth Floor) on the Peabody College campus of Vanderbilt University. We welcome your participation in the conference events without any registration fees, but politely request all conference guests submit a registration form.
 
 
Thursday, September 28, 2006
   
3:00-4:00PM Registration and Refreshments
   
4:00-5:30PM Assessing Teaching and Learning in Charter Schools
   
 
Chair James W. Guthrie, Vanderbilt University
   
Papers Methods of Assessing the Achievement of Students in Charter Schools
  Caroline M. Hoxby, Harvard University
  Sonali Murarka, National Bureau of Economic Research
   
  Instructional Conditions in Charter Schools
  Ellen Goldring, Vanderbilt University
   
  Teacher Labor Markets in Charter and Regular Public Schools
  Michael Podgursky, University of Missouri at Columbia
   
Discussant Herbert Walberg, Hoover Institute at Stanford University
   
5:45-6:15PM Refreshments and Cocktails
   
6:15-7:45PM Dinner
   
7:45-8:30PM Keynote Address
   
 
Introduction Mark Berends, Director
  National Center on School Choice
  Vanderbilt University
   
Speaker Mark Schneider, Commissioner
  National Center for Education Statistics
  U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences
   
 
Friday, September 29, 2006
   
8:00-9:00AM Registration and Continental Breakfast
   
9:00-10:30AM Charter School Governance, Finance, and Law
   
 
Chair Claire Smrekar, Vanderbilt University
   
Papers Charter School Governance
  Paul T. Hill, University of Washington
   
  Charter School Finance
  Sheree Speakman, WCLS Group Limited
   
  Charter School Law
  Kenneth Wong, Brown University
   
Discussant Paul E. Peterson, Harvard University
   
10:30-10:45AM Refreshment Break
   
10:45-11:00AM Greeting
  Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University
   
11:00AM-12:30PM Charter School Effects on Student Achievement
   
 
Chair Matthew G. Springer, Vanderbilt University
   
Papers
 Charter School Outcomes in California
  Ron Zimmer, RAND Corporation
  Richard Buddin, RAND Corporation
   
  Charter School Outcomes in North Carolina
  Helen F. Ladd, Duke University
  Robert BiFulco, University of Connecticut
   
  Charter School Outcomes in Idaho
  Dale Ballou, Vanderbilt University
   
  Charter School Effects on Achievement: Where We Are and Where We're Going
  Mark Berends, Vanderbilt University
   
Discussant Joe Nathan, University of Minnesota
   


The National Center on School Choice conducts scientific, comprehensive, and timely studies on school choice to inform policy and practice. The Center exercises national leadership in coordinating multiple disciplines, research methodologies, and substantive issues associated with the design, implementation, and effects of school choice. More...