A Third Way: The Politics of School District Takeover and Turnaround in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Autor/in	Schueler, Beth E.
Titel	A Third Way: The Politics of School District Takeover and Turnaround in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Quelle	In: Educational Administration Quarterly, 55 (2019) 1, S.116-153 (38 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0013-161X
DOI	10.1177/0013161X18785873
Schlagwörter	School Turnaround; School Districts; Politics of Education; Educational Improvement; Urban Education; Educational Change; Public Schools; Accountability; Stakeholders; Unions; State Government; Achievement Gap; State Legislation; Educational Legislation; Collective Bargaining; Massachusetts + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? School district; Schulbezirk; Educational policy; Bildungspolitik; Teaching improvement; Unterrichtsentwicklung; Stadtteilbezogenes Lernen; Bildungsreform; Public school; Öffentliche Schule; Verantwortung; Bund-Länder-Beziehung; Landesrecht; Bildungsrecht; Schulgesetz; Tarifverhandlung; Master-Studiengang
Abstract	Purpose: School district superintendents say politics is the number one factor limiting their performance, yet research provides limited guidance on navigating the political dynamics of district improvement. State takeovers and district-wide turnaround efforts tend to involve particularly heated and polarized debates. Massachusetts' 2012 takeover of the Lawrence Public Schools provides a rare case of state takeover and district turnaround that both resulted in substantial early academic improvements and generated limited controversy. Method: To describe the stakeholder response and learn why the reforms were not more contentious, I analyzed press coverage of the Lawrence schools from 2007 to 2015, public documents, and two secondary sources of survey data on parent and educator perceptions of the schools. I also interviewed turnaround and stakeholder group leaders at the state and district level regarding the first 3 years of reform. Findings: I find that the local Lawrence context and broader statewide accountability system help explain the stakeholder response. Furthermore, several features of the turnaround leaders' approach improved the response and reflected a "third way" orientation to transcending polarizing political disagreement between educational reformers and traditionalists. Examples include leaders' focus on differentiating district-school relations, diversifying school management, making strategic staffing decisions, boosting both academics and enrichment, and producing early results while minimizing disruption. Implications: The findings provide guidance for state-level leaders on developing accountability systems and selecting contexts that are ripe for reform. The results also provide lessons for district- and school-level leaders seeking to implement politically viable improvement of persistently low-performing educational systems. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01