State Capacity to Support School Turnaround: What Are the Ingredients?

• In Event: Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Supports and Capacity Development for School Turnaround

Abstract

How can state education agencies (SEAs) support rapid improvement, or turnaround, in significant numbers of schools? How can SEAs build their own capacity to support the effective implementation of district and school turnaround efforts? Through a case study of Massachusetts’ Turnaround Agenda, focusing on the period of time beginning with the passage of the state’s 2008 Act Regarding School and District Accountability through the fall of 2011, we examine how a state can leverage federal and state policy to support dramatic change in districts and schools. The case study identifies a set of “ingredients” of state-level capacity that address the challenge of effective policy implementation – in this case the implementation of district and school turnaround.

Author

• Brett Lane, Northeastern University