District Implementation of School Turnaround Policy: Accountability, Capacity-Building, and Superintendent Sense-Making

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Leveraging Partnerships for Student Success (Table 3)

Abstract

This study focuses on superintendent sensemaking of Michigan’s Partnership Model of turnaround, which began in 2018 and identified the lowest performing schools across the state. The Partnership Model required the district, and the Superintendent in particular, to develop a 3-year plan and measurable goals to improve the lowest performing schools in their district. The Partnership Model is unique in the sense that it places direct responsibility on superintendents and the district as the unit of change in turnaround efforts. This study analyzes 43 interviews with Superintendents across the first two years (2018-2020) of policy implementation focusing on how they viewed capacity building in the district and in schools and their perceptions of barriers and opportunities they faced in doing so.

Author

• Chris Torres, University of Michigan
  Presenting Author