Implementing School Turnaround Models: Identifying Levers for Success

• In Event: 18.035 - Managing Complex Systems for Implementation and Scale

Abstract

Proposing an integrative framework that links Bryk and colleagues’ five essential supports and Porter and colleagues’ policy attributes theory, we use a mixed-methods approach to study the implementation and effectiveness of school turnarounds in an urban school district. Using a matched comparison design and estimating a series of regressions to analyze data, we explore the relationships among key model components, approaches to implementation, and achievement. Qualitative methods are used to contextualize these findings and offer hypotheses to explain variation in outcomes. This study facilitates the development of an empirically grounded theory of how implementation relates to effectiveness that proves useful in assessing how policymakers and practitioners might leverage various aspects of implementation to create effective school improvement models at scale.

Authors

• Kirsten Lee Hill, University of Pennsylvania

• Laura M. Desimone, University of Pennsylvania

• Tonya E. Wolford, School District of Philadelphia

• Andrew C. Porter, University of Pennsylvania

• Adrienne Reitano, School District of Philadelphia

• David Kowalski, Temple University

• Horatio W Blackman, University of Pennsylvania

• Katherine Stratos, School District of Philadelphia