Now available with free access from our current issue, Unequal Schools and Communities: A Critical Examination of Neoliberal Education Reform! Do no-excuses disciplinary practices promote success?, by Joanne W. Golann & A. Chris Torres

The urban education reform landscape is being transformed by the rapid spread of charter schools. Leading the way is a group of high-performing, no-excuses charter schools, represented by networks like Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), Achievement First, and Uncommon Schools. Although critics have raised concerns over these schools’ highly structured disciplinary practices, these schools have justified these practices on the basis that they increase student achievement. In this article, we provide the first review of literature on the impact of no-excuses disciplinary practices on various measures of student and organizational success. We find little evidence to support the connection between no-excuses disciplinary methods and students’ academic performance on standardized tests—and some evidence that these methods may undermine nonacademic outcomes, such as students’ social and behavioral skills.