In the early 1990s, several states developed legislation that permitted the creation of a limited number of charter schools. At the beginning of 1997, there were 428 charter schools operating in the United States. This document is the first-year progress report of the 4-year National Study of Charter Schools, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education as authorized by 1994 amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The report presents only descriptive information about charter schools for the school year 1995-96. Data were gathered from a telephone survey (89 percent of the 252 charter schools in operation as of January 1, 1995) and site visits to 42 charter-schools. The first chapter provides an overview of the charter school movement and the research design of the study. The second chapter reviews state charter-school legislation, with a focus on the state role in charter development and implementation. Chapter 3 presents data on enrollment in charter schools, the number of newly created versus preexisting charter schools (including how many were public or private schools), the range of grade-level configurations, and the number of charter schools eligible for and receiving Title I funding. The chapter also reviews the available data on the racial characteristics of students, the number of students who have disabilities, who are English-limited-proficient, and who are from low-income families. The fourth chapter describes why charter schools are started, who originates them, and the barriers that impede implementation. Appendices contain an overview of the research design, an overview of state legislation, and supplemental exhibits. Twenty-six exhibits are included. (Contains 56 endnotes). (LMI)