A RAND study of Edison Schools, Inc. provides a useful case study for schools seeking change for a new century. Edison, explains the report, is the largest and most visible among a growing number of Education Management Organizations that have entered into contracts to manage public schools, including both conventional and charter schools." RAND expects such management options to grow in the future, and the report is intended to fill a void of data about how these schools are doing. The report also provides a clear portrait of Edison's ideal environment for reform.

The findings, which compare the ideal reform with actual schools, are not cut and dry. Rather, the report, through the variety of achievement results, seeks the root source of successes and shortcomings. Edison's ideal is a world class education (Foreign language, higher order thinking, etc) paired with mastery of local standards. Dual accountability systems (state testing and Edison's in-house measures of 21st century skills), researchers found, are often at odds. The importance of distributed leadership also emerges. Explains the introduction:

In this article we explore the ways in which the assistance and resources provided by Edison (including diverse professional development opportunities, materials, technology, and other tools), as well as accountability mechanisms (such as monitoring and rewards), have translated into principal and teacher actions, and the factors that facilitated or constrained educators' efforts to implement the Edison design and improve teaching and learning. Drawing on data gathered from extensive interviews, observations, and document reviews collected during a four-year comprehensive study of Edison schools, we demonstrate how Edison intends to promote not only educators' capacity but also their motivation and opportunity to deliver high-quality instruction. We examine variation that occurs across schools as teachers and principals respond to these system-level efforts. In addition, we identify several important predictors of variation in implementation, including the strength of instructional leadership provided by the principal and the presence or absence of district-imposed constraints such as union contract rules.

Edison strives to use data and related technologies extensively for analyzing student achievement. Additionally, teachers and administrators are given laptop computers, each classroom typically has a few desktop computers, and each school has a dedicated computer lab for communal use (in which benchmark assessments are administered, as well as instruction in computer skills). Edison has also created an intranet called The Common, a Web-based, "message, conferencing, and information system" that provides links to current research, curriculum materials, lesson plans, and discussion groups. Edison's technology investments also include telephones in every classroom and voice mail for every teacher, regarded as essential to promoting better, more-frequent, and more-efficient communication between teachers and parents.

Source: RAND, Assistance and Accountability in Externally Managed Schools: The Case of Edison Schools, Inc.