The "City of Firsts" Charts a New Path on Turnaround. Linking State and Local School Improvement

Autor/inn/en	Jochim, Ashley; Opalka, Alice
Institution	Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE)
Titel	The "City of Firsts" Charts a New Path on Turnaround. Linking State and Local School Improvement
Quelle	(2017), (17 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	School Turnaround; Educational Improvement; Public Schools; Middle Schools; Institutional Autonomy; Accountability; Urban Schools; Educational Innovation; Partnerships in Education; Nonprofit Organizations; Principals; Instructional Leadership; Teacher Recruitment; Governance; Program Effectiveness; Massachusetts + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching improvement; Unterrichtsentwicklung; Public school; Öffentliche Schule; Middle school; Mittelschule; Mittelstufenschule; Institutionelle Autonomie; Verantwortung; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Instructional innovation; Bildungsinnovation; Hochschulpartnerschaft; Nonprofit-Organisation; Principal; Schulleiter; Instruction; Leadership; Bildung; Erziehung; Führung; Lehrerrekrutierung; Education; Educational policy; Financing; Steuerung; Bildungspolitik; Finanzierung; Master-Studiengang
Abstract	In 2014, the Springfield Public School district in Massachusetts had tried just about every strategy in the turnaround playbook to improve a set of struggling middle schools, but these efforts failed to generate the desired improvement. In 2015, drawing inspiration from national efforts to infuse schools with enhanced autonomy and accountability, the district voluntarily ceded operational control of six middle school campuses to the newly formed Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP), an independent nonprofit charged with overseeing the turnaround effort. SEZP offers principals freedom from district rules in exchange for increased accountability for results. These changes, along with a new collective bargaining agreement for teachers working in SEZP and new supports for students and principals, represent a marked departure from Springfield's previous efforts. This case study profiles SEZP, comparing and contrasting it with conventional turnaround strategies such as district-led turnaround, reconstitution, chartering, and state-initiated turnaround. Key findings include: (1) SEZP brought together a package of reforms aimed at generating improvement and a new governance model that gives schools much greater freedom to change without needing to ask permission or fear regulatory second-guessing; (2) SEZP offers a "middle way" between other school turnaround strategies: providing more local participation and less controversy compared to either state takeovers or chartering, and committing more deeply to school autonomy, tailored support, and choice of talent compared to conventional district-led turnarounds; and (3) Thus far, SEZP has seen less controversy and more goodwill than many other turnaround efforts, but whether the strategy results in improved student outcomes remains to be seen. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Center on Reinventing Public Education. University of Washington Bothell Box 358200, Seattle, WA 98195. Tel: 206-685-2214; Fax: 206-221-7402; e-mail: crpe@u.washington.edu; Web site: http://www.crpe.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01