Skip to main content

Mobile Navigation

  • National
    • Policy
      • High Expectations
      • Quality Choices
      • Personalized Pathways
    • Research
    • Commentary
      • Gadfly Newsletter
      • Flypaper Blog
    • Events
    • Scholars Program
  • Ohio
    • Policy
      • Priorities
      • Media & Testimony
    • Research
    • Commentary
      • Ohio Education Gadfly Biweekly
      • Ohio Gadfly Daily
  • Charter Authorizing
    • Application
    • Sponsored Schools
    • Resources
  • About
    • Mission
    • Board
    • Staff
    • Career
Home
Home
Advancing Educational Excellence

Main Navigation

  • National
  • Ohio
  • Charter Authorizing
  • About

National Menu

  • Topics
    • Accountability & Testing
    • Advanced Education
    • Career & Technical Education
    • Charter Schools
    • Curriculum & Instruction
    • ESSA
    • Evidence-Based Learning
    • Facilities
    • Governance
    • Personalized Learning
    • Private School Choice
    • School Finance
    • Standards
    • Teachers & School Leaders
    • Think Again
  • Research
  • Commentary
    • Gadfly Newsletter
    • Flypaper Blog
    • Gadfly Podcast
  • Events
  • Scholars Program
High Expectations

Evolution of the New American Schools: From Revolution to Mainstream

Jeffrey Mirel
10.1.2001
10.1.2001

This report traces an initiative that was launched a decade ago by business and government leaders seeking to spark a transformation of K-12 education in American. The New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC) vowed to cast aside traditional ideas about schools and apply a no-nonsense, business-savvy approach to the design and deployment of "break-the-mold" schools. Ten years later, New American Schools (as the organization is now named) looks a lot more like a member of the education establishment. Mirel's fascinating report shows how this happened.


Policy Priority:
High Expectations
Topics:
Governance
DOWNLOAD PDF
Jeffrey Mirel

Related Resources

view Collage of Alabama classrooms, a student working with letters, books, the Alabama State Capitol, and a Civil Rights monument, arranged within the outline of Alabama against a cream background.
Standards & Accountability

Studying the Southern Surge: How Alabama Beat the Odds in Reading

Liana Loewus 10.28.2026
NationalReport
view Charter school report cover image
School Choice

Ohio Charter Schools’ Turnaround, 2007–2025: The Role of Funding and Accountability in their Performance Trajectory

Stéphane Lavertu 10.13.2026
OhioReport
view Students sit at laptops in a classroom while social media reaction icons and notification bubbles appear across the foreground.
Standards & Accountability

High Tech, Low Standards: High School in the Age of Distraction

Brian R. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D. 9.9.2026
NationalReport
Fordham Logo

© 2026 The Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Privacy Policy
Usage Agreement

National

P.O. Box 110
Burke, VA 22009

202.223.5452

[email protected]

Ohio

P.O. Box 82291
Columbus, OH 43202

614.223.1580

[email protected]

Sponsorship

130 West Second Street, Suite 410
Dayton, Ohio 45402

937.227.3368

[email protected]