Proud to be Different

Bob Fox and Nina Buchanan have penned an intriguing and useful new book on a rarely-examined dimension of charter schooling, offering a thoughtful look at schools that celebrate a particular ethic, culture, or linguistic heritage. Building on a decade of their own inquiry, they explain how these schools fit within the larger framework of charter school policy and the tensions that can ensue. This is a volume that points to both the possibilities and some of the attendant challenges posed by the charter model and that promises to be invaluable reading for those engaged in charter school practice, policy, or authorizing. -- Frederick Hess, author of Letters to a Young Education Reformer; director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute
Contemporary debate about charters and school choice is dominated by the market metaphor and attention to large-scale management organizations offering standard education models designed to attract substantial enrollments. Fox and Buchanan remind us in this book about a different side of the choice movement, one rooted in social values more than economic transactions and that aims to meet different cultures on their own terms. It's a valuable counterpoint. -- Jeffrey R. Henig, professor of political science and education, Teachers College, Columbia University, author of "Spin Cycle: How Research is Used in Policy Debates, The Case of Charter Schools"
Ethnocentric-niche public charter schools are only a small percentage of the growing number of public charter schools in the United States, but they provide opportunities for instructional innovation to enhance student learning, parental engagement and involvement, and partnerships with community organizations. Through an intriguing set of case studies, the book describes schools trying new educational strategies to provide high-quality public school experiences to students. Additionally, this book explores the primary issues raised regarding ethnocentric-niche schools, such as whether these schools will assimilate students into the larger set of democratic beliefs and values that public schools have been expected to instill and whether these schools cross legal boundaries. The book serves as a great resource for the debate on the purpose and function of public schools. -- Nina Rees, President & CEO, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools