Policy Evaluation Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Policy Evaluation Analysis - Research Paper Example Currently, public education in the US is offered by district public schools and Charter schools according to Stuart (2002). Charter schools are not government-run, instead, they are opened and attended by choice. The policy of funding Charter schools using federal funds was authorized by President Bush in the NCLB Act in order to stimulate their development. However, this is done indirectly done by transferring the money allocated for each child enrolled in a Charter school, from their former district schools. This means that the relationship between a Charter school and the district sponsoring it could facilitate or hinder its access to federal funding (US Government Accountancy Office 1998). Some Charter schools are considered as LEAs and receive direct deferral funding. Finnigan et al (2004) and Ascher et al. (2004) state that in terms of funding, charter schools receive funding according to enrollment. In many cases, Charter schools receive lesser funds as compared to other publi c schools due to imperfections in money transfers (Reville, 2007). Stuart (2002) adds that Charter schools do not receive funding for securing facilities. This causes them to seek operation costs outside the federal funds for example through donation. However there is a recent federal legislation which allows that allocation of start-up costs to Charter schools. This paper gives an evaluation and analysis of this policy. Policy evaluation time The policy of using federal money to fund Charter schools has to be evaluated before the end of the next financial year. This is because the results from the evaluation will be useful in determining any changes that are required in terms of funding. For example, it will help in determining the effect of this funding policy on Charter schools since it started in 2002 as noted by Finnigan et al. (200). These include the performance of Charter schools, costs, quality, program, and goal attainment levels. A knowledge of the extent of the achieveme nt of its goals will therefore determine amount of funding or additional funding required. These changes will then be included in the next federal budget and will be reflected in the amount of money set aside for public education. Policy evaluation process According to Theodoulou and Koffins (2004), policy evaluation is a critical way of determining whether a policy works or not, whether it is achieving its intended functions and whether its impacts are intentional or not. In order to determine the successful implementation and outcomes of a certain policy, an all round evaluation has to be conducted. This means that an application of the four policy evaluation typologies should be done. These include process evaluation, impact evaluation, outcome evaluation and cost-benefit evaluation. Process evaluation analyses how well a certain program or policy is being implemented. It is normally done with an aim of determining necessary actions that are required to improve its implementation . In order to achieve this, the government has to determine why the policy is performing at current levels and identify any problems. This requires the use of sampling in order to determine the extent to which Charter schools have been receiving federal funds, the amounts and effectiveness in delivery of funds (Theodoulou and Koffins, 2004). The government has