Twelve studies find that overall gains in charter schools are larger than other public schools; four find charter schools’ gains higher in certain significant categories of schools; six find comparable gains; and, four find that charter schools’ overall gains lagged behind traditional schools.
Source: Charter School Achievement: What We Know, July 2005 Update
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Download: 
http://www.educationevolving.org/pdf/coolest_school.pdf
This book discusses the development of the Minnesota New Country School (MNCS), a 7-12 charter school that has no formal classes, but rather supports student-directed projects. The school focuses on individual responsibility and developing skills in resilience, persistence, reflection, and relationships. The book offers a series of essays about learning communities, experiential learning, and place-based learning, and examines how these initiatives are producing positive outcomes. While it can be purchased from booksellers, Education/Evolving offers an online excerpt that discusses the experience of students who attend schools with project-based learning programs. One MNCS student sums it up: "All the annoying stuff is gone: bells, seats, mind on and mind off every forty-five minutes. Nine teachers a day, lockers, all of it gone. . . [and in its place is] a different environment so that learning is relevant and interesting."
Date: 2005
Source: EdVisions Cooperative
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