Explanatory Factors for the Uneven Implementation of Charter School Policy*

Charter schools are regarded as the fastest growing and most impressive innovative institution in public education in Colorado. However, a charter school policy has been unevenly implemented across Colorado school districts. This study aims to clarify what conditions lead to this uneven implementation. To examine the efforts of Colorado school districts to innovate within the conventional public school system, it analyzes several hypotheses based on the diffusion model and socioeconomic factors with an ordinary least squares regression model. Statistical analysis demonstrates that three predictor variables—diffusion, educational level, and alternative innovation—positively influence the social phenomenon that each Colorado school district shows different efforts in the implementation of charter school policy. Among them, the number of alternative schools is the strongest regressor, and the existence of neighboring school districts with charter schools is the second strongest regressor that exerts powerful effects to account for the wide variance in the implementation of Colorado school districts’ charter school policy.