Union's Charter School Project Emphasizes Research and Evaluation

By Lynn Schnaiberg

When the National Education Association launched its charter school project, the union said that one its chief objectives was to document, study, and share the experiences of the five pilot schools.

The NEA has hired Amy Stuart Wells, a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, to tackle the items on that list. And the union is working with a nonprofit research group to focus on strengthening communications and other links between charter schools and the larger school community.

The flurry of research activity around the five NEA-sponsored schools at times has been intense, said Linda Page, the lead teacher for the union's Colorado...