Same Beat, Two Drums? Student Impacts of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Turnaround Reform in Low-Performing and Newly Opened Schools

• In Event: Exploring Social Networks and Systemic Approaches to Influencing Student Achievement

Abstract

This paper examines the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Public School Choice Initiative (PSCI), a reform that aims to turn around the district’s lowest performing schools and operate newly built schools under innovative governance models. Using a ten-year panel of administrative student data, we employ a Comparative Interrupted Time Series design to isolate the impact of PSCI on student achievement and suspension rates for students in three cohorts of PSCI schools. We find positive trends in student achievement overall that vary by Cohort, although there is no impact of the reform on suspension rates. These findings add to a growing literature on turnaround and portfolio reforms.

Authors

• Katharine Omenn Strunk, University of Southern California

• Julie A. Marsh, University of Southern California

• Ayesha Hashim, University of Southern California

• Susan C. Bush, University of Southern California

• Tracey Lynn Weinstein, University of Southern California