Introduction to the Special Issue: The best of the 2018 ISCR Conference

The Journal of School Choice is pleased to present a special issue highlighting the best of the seventh International School Choice and Reform Conference (ISCRC), or Journal of School Choice Conference for short, held January 2018 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. These four excellent articles include the 2018 prizewinners, awarded $5,000 thanks to the generosity of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice; recently renamed EdChoice. The prizewinning article by Sherrie Reed and Heather Rose from the University of California, Davis examined the clarity and enforcement of existing charter school accountability mechanisms. This innovative work provides a baseline that for future research to improve charter accountability systems. Moreover, it is a piece of scholarship; not one of advocacy or opposition.The diversity of topics in the four articles emphasizes the diversity of educational options which, collectively, fit into the “school choice” classification. Alternatives to traditional public education have clearly found a foothold in America and internationally, and further studies promise to help policymakers in navigating the complex issues which surround efforts to educate our next generations.