I’m very pleased to share a new paper I've coauthored with @JoshBleiberg examining the effect of state takeover of school districts on student test-based academic achievement and educational inputs, recently accepted at JPAM: edworkingpapers.com/ai21-411 1/n Not only do the results have implications for policy aimed at improving low-performing school systems but also represent a rare test of the effectiveness of alternative education governance arrangements beyond the typical locally elected school board model. 2/n

Is it possible to turn around a low-performing school district w/o generating significant public resistance? My recently released paper on 2012 Lawrence, MA state takeover suggests the answer is YES & provides guidance on implementing politically viable district improvement. 1/14 To understand the public response, I analyzed press coverage, public documents, & survey data and I interviewed turnaround and stakeholder group leaders at the state and district level regarding the first 3 years of reform. 2/14
Full paper: scholar.harvard.edu/files/schueler…