Counterpoints publishes the most compelling and imaginative books being written in education today. Grounded on the theoretical advances in criticalism, feminism and postmodernism in the last two decades of the twentieth century, Counterpoints engages the meaning of these innovations in various forms of educational expression. Committed to the proposition that theoretical literature should be accessible to a variety of audiences, the series insists that its authors avoid esoteric and jargonistic languages that transform educational scholarship into an elite discourse for the initiated.

Parents Founding Charter Schools investigates the founding, development, and early operations of two start-up, parent-run charter schools in neighboring urban areas in California. Both schools were among the first 105 charters approved in the state and provide an «up close and personal» view of the early years of charter organizing. The ethnographic case study method allows us to witness the impact of external and internal barriers to decentralization on the lives and relationships of charter parents, teachers, and administrators. Also rendered visible are the connections between internal chaos after the schools are operational and decisions or compromises made by sponsors and charter founders during the early developmental stages of the organizations.

Autorentext

The Author: Patty Yancey is Assistant Professor in Teacher Education and Coordinator of the Arts and Education Collaborative at the University of San Francisco. She received her Ph.D. in education with an emphasis on social and cultural studies at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition, Dr. Yancey is an independent arts education consultant for K-12 schools and community arts organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.