District Systems to Support Equitable and High-Quality Teaching and Learning
Category: Policy, Politics, and Governance
Limited scholarship examines school districtwide turnaround reforms beyond the first few years of implementation or efforts to replicate successes in new contexts. We study Massachusetts, home to a state takeover of the Lawrence district that led to academic gains in early reform years, and where state leaders attempted to replicate this success in three additional communities. We use statewide student-level data (2006-07 to 2018-19) and event study methods to estimate medium-term impacts on student outcomes. We find improvements were largely sustained in Lawrence. We observe evidence of successful replication in the Springfield Empowerment Zone but not Holyoke or Southbridge. Cases with positive outcomes both struck a unique balance between state and local decision-making authority, suggesting multilevel governance can provide one pathway for effective state-led district improvement.
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/2psy-nw21
