The Emergence of Diverse Charters: A Comparative Case Study of New Orleans and Minneapolis–Saint Paul

• In Event: Intentionally Diverse Charter Schools: Promise and Perils

Abstract

In this study, we conduct a comparative case study of two metropolitan areas with moderate to large charter school populations (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, 2012). We focus on the five self-identified intentionally diverse charters in New Orleans, where now over 90% of students attend charter schools, and on 7 diverse charter schools in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where over 20% of students attend charter schools. In particular, we explore what gave rise to diverse charters in each context through interviews with school leaders and document analysis (including coding of school websites), and by situating the schools within a historical trajectory of charter-school reforms in the cities under study.
We conducted 18 interviews with school leaders of 12 diverse charter schools across both sites. Interviews were semi-structured, and included questions about the history and founding of the schools, how school leaders market their schools, their perceptions of why parents selected their school, and how they viewed their school in relation to others in their metropolitan area. Interviews lasted approximately 30–90 minutes, and were audio-recorded and transcribed. In addition, we coded school websites in both metropolitan areas, and examined other documents, such as board meeting minutes and marketing materials from each school.
We find that the role that diverse charters play in any given market is contextualized and particular. For example, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, two schools—with long-standing missions around diversity—have attracted multicultural communities of families, but comparatively few white families (and less socio-economic diversity). Two other long-standing schools have had greater success in maintaining socio-economic and racial diversity. Two newer Montessori schools have explicitly prioritized the recruitment of diverse families, deliberately foregrounding a mission of outreach and equity.
In contrast, newer diverse charters in New Orleans—an already saturated market—were founded in response to perceived unmet needs of parents and students. School leaders of some diverse charters described opening schools in direct response to the “No Excuses” model that was so prevalent in the rest of the city’s charter schools. As the market evolves in New Orleans, and perhaps in response to the growing concerns about overly strict discipline procedures in some schools, there seems to be a shift toward schools with different behavioral approaches.
Our analysis of these two cases also sheds light on how different stakeholders understand what diversity is, the ways in which it might be valuable, and for whom. While intentionally diverse charter schools are a potentially promising reform, our analysis also points to ways in which diversity may be positioned as a kind of consumer good. Certain families, in effect, may seek out particular kinds of diverse schools as a kind of positional advantage in an increasingly competitive economic climate. Such an understanding of diversity—as a consumer good—may, we argue, offer less of a conceptual groundwork for such schools to pursue goals of equity, and make difficult decisions (in terms of recruitment, enrollment, location) in service of those goals.

Authors

• Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas - Austin

• Terri S. Wilson, University of Colorado Boulder