How State Takeover School Districts Shake Up Teacher Professional Development

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1 Center for American Progress | How State Takeover School Districts Shake Up Teacher Professional Development

How State Takeover School

Districts Shake Up TeacherProfessional DevelopmentBy Kaitlin Pennington June 5 2014

Over he pas ew decades many sae deparmens o educaion have aken over low-

perorming schools or disrics as a school urnaround sraegy Bu recenly ha sraegyhas shifed o creaing new disrics991252managed by he sae991252ha include schools and

pars o disrics ha ace challenges in perormance Te governance srucure brings

schools ogeher based on similar needs raher han on geographic proximiy Tis new

sae akeover sraegy varies in erms o he level o sae conrol and local influence and

is success has been mixed or canno ye be ully measured 1 Noneheless i has sparked

new hinking and innovaion in saes and disrics hroughou he Unied Saes

Schools or disrics aken over by sae deparmens o educaion operae under a

governance srucure ha grans hem reedom rom some o he resricions placed on

ypical US school disrics Tis reedom has allowed school and disric leaders in saeakeover disrics o experimen wih everyhing rom school saffing o he school cal-

endar o curriculum and lesson planning Anoher area o innovaion or sae akeover

schools and disrics is eacher proessional developmen he ocus o his issue brie

As a growing body o evidence poins o he overriding imporance o eachers in pro-

moing suden achievemen proessional developmen ha suppors eachers in mean-

ingul ways has also become a ho opic in policymaking circles a he disric sae and

ederal levels2 Ye ensuring ha eachers receive effecive proessional developmen

wih he resources available is a challenge all disrics ace And here is a long hisory o

saes and disrics using unds ineffecively in his area3 Because sae akeover disrics

are given he opporuniy o rehink disric policies and pracices ofen wih new lead-

ership in place his brie akes a closer look a how several sae akeover disrics govern

eacher proessional developmen




A close look a sae akeover disrics in Louisiana Michigan and ennessee reveals he

ollowing rends in he governance o eacher proessional developmen

bull Complete autonomy for charter schools Charer schools are given auonomy o run

proessional developmen according o heir own sandards Te saes hold he char-

er school neworks accounable or suden perormance a he end o each academic

year wih consequences conneced o low perormance

bull Partnerships with outside service providers Some sae akeover disrics use par o

heir allocaed ederal unds o conrac wih an ouside service provider o enhance


bull Connecting teacher evaluation and professional development Leaders in he sae

akeover disrics are sraegically hinking abou how o connec eacher proessional

developmen o he new eacher-evaluaion sysems

Lessons learned rom he innovaion in hese disrics could influence proessional-devel-opmen spending and pracices in disrics hroughou he Unied Saes While i is oo

soon o ell i he proessional-developmen governance sysems in sae akeover disrics

are effecive hey are worh noing991252i or no oher reason han ha hey break he mold

What are state takeover school districts

A sae akeover o school disrics or individual schools wihin differen disrics is a

prevalen school urnaround effor in many saes Tis school urnaround sraegy has

become more popular in he pas decade afer leaders in Louisiana creaed he RecoverySchool Disric or RSD In his model he sae idenifies is low-perorming schools and

creaes a school disric according o school perormance raher han geography No all

sae akeover disrics use his model bu he disrics discussed in his brie do ollow i

Sae akeover school disrics ha resemble he RSD use a porolio governance sra-

egy991252meaning ha here are a number o governing eniies including charer schools

or-profi operaors and radiional public schools wihin he disric4 Under he

porolio governance sraegy he sae can operae he schools in various ways A recen

sudy o hese curren disricsrsquo operaing models ound ha hey end o use one or

more o he ollowing sysems

bull Issuing charers or charer-like conracs o exernal schools

bull Operaing schools direcly by hiring a school leader and eacher eams and graning

hem charer-like auonomy

bull Operaing schools direcly using a new school model creaed or managed by he disric5




Tese differen operaing models allow saes o govern schools wihou he resrains

ha are ypically placed on schools and disrics ha use a radiional disric gover-

nance model In addiion because he schools are idenified by perormance some

migh argue ha he needs o he sudens and eachers in he schools are more

argeed han in a disric wih various perormance levels rom school o school Tis

allows he disric o implemen inenional reorms ha address he direc needs o

schools acing similar challenges

How federal funds support professional development

Disrics and schools use a mix o local sae and ederal unds or eacher proessional

developmen Te ederal money given o saes or his purpose mosly comes hrough

ile II Par A o he Elemenary and Secondary Educaion Ac which provides unds

o prepare rain and recrui high-qualiy eachers and principals6 Te language around

how saes can use ile II Par A is inenionally nonspecific in order o allow saes

and local disrics o make spending decisions based on local condiions and needsHowever he reporing srucure disrics use o deail how hey spend he money is

also vague Tis has led o a dearh o inormaion abou how he unds rom ile II

Par A suppor high-qualiy eaching hrough proessional-developmen aciviies

Wha litle is known abou ile II Par A spending is no promising Findings rom

an annual survey o school disrics regarding heir ile II Par A spending show ha

hree-quarers o he unds suppor class-size reducion and proessional developmen

wih 44 percen o hese unds going o proessional developmen7 Ye here is no real

evidence showing ha he curren way schools and disrics use ederal unds or eacher

proessional developmen improves eacher insrucion or suden learning8

Given he organizaion o schools in sae akeover school disrics991252wih heir shared

needs he lessened emphasis on geographic proximiy and he high profile o heir

mission991252a closer look a he ways in which hese disrics spend heir ile II Par A

unds may help inorm beter spending o his money in all disrics

Teacher pro fess ional development in state takeover school districts

In many sae akeover disrics leaders have he opporuniy o ake a sep back o

assess specific challenges and o address hem in purposeul ways wihou some o he

resricions placed on ypical school disrics Specific challenges ofen include school

saffing decisions or lengh o he school day In his way sae akeover disrics have

he luxury o rehinking or inkering wih he way hey govern eacher proessional

developmen i hey choose o do so Te ollowing is an analysis o how eacher proes-

sional developmen is governed in sae akeover disrics in Louisiana Michigan and

ennessee Tese disrics were chosen because here are boh similariies and disinc

differences in he ways leaders are innovaing in he area o proessional developmen




providing an opporuniy or oher disrics o learn rom heir sraegies I appears ha

leaders in hese disrics are hinking sraegically abou eacher proessional develop-

men and how hey use ederal unds o suppor effecive proessional-developmen

aciviies ha benefi eacher pracice and suden learning

Louisiana Complete autonomy with end-of-year accountability

Te creaion o he Recovery School Disric in Louisiana was se in moion in 2003

bu was no ully implemened unil 2005 when Hurricane Karina devasaed he

Orleans Parish School Disric or OPSD in New Orleans Afer Karina he Louisiana

legislaure passed Ac No 35 which allowed he RSD o ake conrol o more han 100

schools leaving only 17 schools under he auhoriy o he OPSD9

Te RSD permanenly closed is las five radiional public schools in May10 Wih he

sar o he 2014-15 school year he RSD will be he firs in he counry compleely

made up o public charer schools11

According o Adam Haw assisan superinendenor he Louisiana Deparmen o Educaion he RSD isel is more ighly inegraing

ino he Louisiana Deparmen o Educaion in order o be a par o he overall school

ransormaion sraegy12 Te curren vision is or he RSD o have sysems-level over-

sigh991252bu no role991252in he direc operaion o any o he schools

Te RSDrsquos unique governance srucure reas each school as is own local educaion

agency essenially each school is is own disric which has major implicaions or

proessional-developmen governance ile II Par A money is allocaed direcly o he

schools which can use i however hey choose Tis srucure allows or much more

auonomy a he school level In many oher disrics across he counry mos proes-sional-developmen unds and aciviies are direced a he sae or disric level

Schools in he RSD are required o ollow ederal law or he use o ile II unds bu

he sae does no pu addiional parameers on how schools should use he unds or

proessional developmen ldquoOur basic heory o acion is ha people who are closes o

he problems are in he bes posiion o propose soluionsrdquo Haw said13

While RSD schools are given auonomy on how o use ile II unds or proessional

developmen he sae holds hem accounable or suden achievemen a he end o

he year Should a school no produce saisacory suden-achievemen resuls he sae

has he auhoriy o ake acion991252which could mean replacing leadership closing he

school or aking oher measures he sae deems appropriae ldquoTe idea is o allow or

innovaion knowing ha while i migh no work ou yoursquore confiden yoursquore going o

know wheher i works ou and yoursquore no going o olerae ailurerdquo Haw said14




Louisianarsquos RSD has operaed much longer han any oher sae akeover disric and

many educaion reorm observers atribue is success o suden-achievemen gains

made by RSD schools For example he share o sudens perorming a grade level on

sae assessmens has more han doubled since 2007 and in New Orleans he RSDrsquos

School Perormance Scores increased 10 percen rom 2008 o 201015 More han 57 per-

cen o RSD sudens esed proficien on he sae assessmen in he 2012-13 school year

an increase o 6 percenage poins rom he 2011-12 school year16 While he proficiencyrae o sudens in he RSD is sill below he sae average he growh scores o sudens

in he RSD surpass hose o he sae as a whole 17 Leaving i up o he schools991252wih

backend accounabiliy rom he RSD991252o decide how o manage and und proessional

developmen is worhy o more sudy o deermine is effec on suden achievemen

Michigan Personalized online professional learning

In June 2011 Michigan Gov Rick Snyder (R) announced he creaion o he Educaion

Achievemen Auhoriy or EAA a saewide school sysem ha would assume opera-ion o he saersquos lowes-perorming 5 percen o schools18 Te model began in

Sepember 2012 wih 15 Deroi schools and is expeced o expand o low-perorming

schools saewide in he coming years19 O he 15 schools in he EAA here are hree

charer schools Te oher 12 schools are operaed using an EAA-creaed suden-cen-

ered blended-learning model Raher han working wihin an aged-based grade level

sudens in EAA-run schools begin a heir insrucional level and advance wih he help

o he eacher and personalized echnology20

Due o he unique insrucional design or suden learning in he EAA eacher proes-

sional developmen is a he oreron o EAA leadersrsquo minds so ha eachers are able omee sudensrsquo needs in his aypical learning environmen ldquoBecause our [suden-learn-

ing] model is so differen we need o make sure eachers are geting he kind o proes-

sional developmen o hone heir skills o each in a suden-cenered modelrdquo commened

John Covingon he EAArsquos chancellor in an inerview wih Michigan public radio21

Mirroring he personalized online learning or sudens eacher proessional developmen

in he EAA is also heavily ocused on echnology In addiion o complemening suden

learning in he EAA his governance srucure allows or sandardizaion across schools

ha could soon be locaed hroughou he sae no jus in Deroi22 ldquoAll o he sysems we

pu in place are no geographically based Ta is why yoursquore seeing ha wersquore using a lo

o blended proessional developmenrdquo said Mary Esselman depuy chancellor or insruc-

ional suppor and educaional accounabiliy or he EAA23 Approximaely one-hird o

he EAArsquos ile II money is spen on a conrac wih he School Improvemen Nework an

online proessional-developmen and eacher-raining company24




Te parnership beween he EAA and he School Improvemen Nework connecs each-

ers in he EAA hrough online proessional-developmen plaorms and virual communi-

ies Trough hese online porals EAA eachers can share bes pracices and resources

wih hose eaching similar conen Leaders in he EAA have ocused on embedding pro-

essional developmen ino eachersrsquo schedules by connecing proessional-developmen

offerings o he eacher-evaluaion sysem As par o heir evaluaion EAA eachers keep a

porolio and se goals or heir proessional growh and hen choose proessional-develop-men aciviies ha will help hem mee hose individual goals

o demonsrae heir skills and develop a pool o resources o draw rom eachers in he

EAA are required o film hemselves eaching a leas wo imes and o add hose videos

o he online poral ldquoWersquove buil a blended course and embedded videos o differen

eachers and oher documens crafed by eachers or eachersrdquo Esselman explained

ldquoWe have our eachers go hrough he masery cycle o providing reflecion on wha

heyrsquore learning a pracice piece o show heir undersanding and an apply piece o

show how heyrsquo ll apply i in he classroomrdquo25

Principals in he EAA are also par o he proessional-developmen sysem Each principal

is required o conduc five inormal classroom observaions per week Tey hen rack he

observaions via an online sysem in order o provide eachers wih real-ime eedback on

heir insrucional pracice In ha eedback principals can assign eachers o wach par-

icular videos in he online poral ha hey eel will be helpul in showing a bes pracice

Tere is no shorage o skepics o he EAA Te sae akeover disric was poliically

conroversial rom he sar as i became he subjec o dispues beween sae lawmak-

ers abou governance educaional models and equiy in Deroi26 Suden achieve-

men on he sae assessmen991252he Michigan Educaional Assessmen Program whichis adminisered each Ocober991252rom he firs wo years o he EAArsquos implemenaion

shows mixed resuls bu overall scores improved rom he 2012-13 school year o he

2013-14 school year in 10 o he 18 caegories esed or hird o ninh grade27 EAA

officials also poin o suden progress on he naionally normed adapive assessmen

rom Scanron28 Te expansion o he EAA o schools hroughou he sae is sill being

debaed in he sae legislaure and suden-learning gains will likely be a prevalen opic

o discussion when considering he EAArsquos growh29

Tennessee Induction and professional learning embedded into teacher evaluation

Te ennessee sae legislaure passed a bill in January 2010 creaing he Achievemen

School Disric or ASD which was ormed in 2011 and rolled ou during he 2012-13

school year30 In he ASD ailing schools991252defined as schools in he botom 5 percen

o all ile I schools or as ile I high schools wih graduaion raes o less han 60




percen991252are removed rom heir local disrics and placed under he auhoriy o he

ennessee Deparmen o Educaion31 Te firs six schools reopened in 2012 and 11

more reopened in 2013 all o hese schools are locaed in Memphis or Nashville Te

ASD plans o operae or charer 35 schools by he sar o he 2014-15 school year

Similar o he EAA in Michigan here are wo differen ypes o schools in he ASD

direc-run schools which he ASD reers o as ldquoAchievemen Schoolsrdquo32 and charers Inhe 2012-13 school year here were hree Achievemen Schools and here are six his

year Te disincion beween Achievemen Schools and charer schools is imporan or

eacher proessional developmen Similar o he Louisiana RSD charer schools in he

ennessee ASD are able o conduc eacher proessional developmen however hey see

fi and are held accounable or resuls by he ASD a he end o he school year eachers

in Achievemen Schools by conras receive proessional developmen hrough he ASD

Te proessional developmen or eachers in ASD direc-run schools is influenced in

par by he exas charer school nework YES Prep33 which was ounded by ASDrsquos

superinenden Chris Barbic and ormerly employed several members o he ASDcenral saff ldquoA lo o our [proessional-developmen] decisions were inormed by pas

experience in high-achieving schools by eam membersrdquo said Crisina Munoz hen-

direcor o insrucional suppor or he ASD ldquoSo YES Preprsquos model inormed a lo o

our decision-making along wih KIPP [Knowledge Is Power Program] and a couple

oher high-achieving schoolsrdquo34

Based on wha Munoz and oher ASD eam members learned rom pas experiences

hey deermined a robus summer inducion was imporan or eacher proessional

developmen In he 2012-13 school year991252he mos recen year or which daa are avail-

able991252he ASD had $50000 in ederal ile II unding and allocaed all o he moneyo inducion or Achievemen Schools according o he ASDrsquos chie financial officer

Isabella Wilson35 While he ASD canno mandae ha charer school eachers atend

he ASD proessional developmen all charer school eachers were invied o atend

In addiion o inducion he Achievemen Schools have several oher proessional-

developmen sysems in place or eachers Sudens in Achievemen Schools have an

early release each Wednesday so ha eachers can use he res o he school day o ocus

on proessional developmen In addiion here are our ull days hroughou he school

year called collaboraive planning days in which all o he Achievemen Schools mee

in course- or grade-level eams o walk hrough upcoming uni plans work on bes prac-

ices and share lesson planning36

Te Achievemen Schools use he online eacher-evaluaion sysem BloomBoard which

is se up o align wih he ASDrsquos observaion rubric37 ldquoTe proessional developmen is

driven by eacher-evaluaion observaion ormal and inormalrdquo Munoz explained ldquoAs

a principal I can walk ino a classroom open up BloomBoard and as Irsquom observing I

can inpu raings sraigh ino he sysem and also leave noes or acion seps I hen

aggregaes he daa or us so irsquos easier o spo rends or proessional developmenrdquo38




Tereore he srucure o proessional developmen each Wednesday is se based on

rends spoted in eacher-observaion daa According o Munoz eachers seem o be

recepive o he proessional developmen offered by he ASD ldquoTey eel like heyrsquore

lisened o and ha we work o address heir needs and give hem ime o plan insead o

making hem si here or eigh hours sraigh Now people expec more which is greardquo39

Since he 2012-13 school year was he firs academic year or sudens in he ASDhere is only one year o sae suden-achievemen daa available Sae assessmen

daa showed suden growh in mah and science bu a drop in reading scores40 Te

saewide proficiency growh numbers showed a 35 percen gain in mah proficiency

slighly more han he ASDrsquos 33 percen gain41 Sudens in he ASD however grealy

ouperormed sudens saewide in science proficiency wih a 77 percen gain com-

pared o a 21 percen saewide gain Reading proficiency improved 04 percen sae-

wide bu declined 45 percen in he ASD42 Given he suden-achievemen resuls he

ASD will presumably ocus a leas par o eacher proessional developmen on lieracy

echniques As many saes and disrics hroughou he Unied Saes roll ou new

eacher-evaluaion sysems i will be worh waching i ohers ollow he ASDrsquos modelo connecing eacher proessional developmen o he new evaluaion sysems which

include suden-achievemen resuls

Conclusion

Te sae akeover o disrics as a school urnaround sraegy is mean o breahe new

ideas ino disrics and schools ha according o suden perormance are no serving

sudens well eacher proessional developmen is jus one area ha leaders in sae

akeover disrics are challenged o innovae bu i is a worhy cause because eacherqualiy is one o he bes predicors o suden achievemen

Leaders in he sae akeover disrics in Louisiana Michigan and ennessee are hinking

sraegically abou ways o approach eacher proessional developmen given he specific

challenges presened in heir disrics While each disric is approaching proessional

developmen in is own unique way here are several rends in hese hree disrics

bull Complete autonomy for charter schools In he Louisiana Recovery School Disric

charer schools are reaed as i hey are heir own disric which rees hem o run

eacher proessional developmen however hey see fi Similarly in he sae akeover

disrics in Michigan and ennessee charer schools are no required o parake in he

disric-offered eacher proessional developmen Insead charer schools in hese

wo saes are given auonomy o run proessional developmen according o heir

own sandards In all o hese disrics he sae holds he charer school neworks

accounable or suden perormance a he end o each academic year wih conse-

quences conneced o low perormance A poenial drawback o his approach is ha

he sae may have litle knowledge o how schools are approaching and using unds

or eacher proessional developmen




bull Partnerships with outside service providers Te sae akeover disrics in Michigan

and ennessee have boh used par o he unds allocaed hrough ile II Par A o

conrac wih an ouside service provider o enhance eacher proessional develop-

men In Michigan leaders have parnered wih he School Improvemen Nework o

esablish online proessional-developmen communiies Leaders in ennessee use

BloomBoard o help connec eacher evaluaion and proessional-developmen acivi-

ies or individual eachers


akeover disrics in Michigan and ennessee are sraegically hinking abou how o

connec eacher proessional developmen o he new eacher-evaluaion sysems in boh

saes As menioned above leaders in ennessee use he online sysem BloomBoard

o rack eachersrsquo needs as seen hrough observaion daa and connec hem o proes-

sional-developmen aciviies As par o eachersrsquo evaluaion in Michigan hey keep a

porolio and se goals or heir proessional growh and hen choose proessional-devel-

opmen aciviies ha will help hem mee hose individual goals

Wih simulaneous reorm effors aking place rom eacher evaluaion o he Common

Core Sae Sandards eachers across he counry are acing changes ha direcly

affec heir eaching and hey need proessional developmen ha helps hem ideniy

heir srenghs and improve heir weaknesses While his brie examined proessional

developmen in relaion o governance in hree recovery and achievemen school dis-

rics here are ohers ha also deserve a closer look O noe are he Commissionerrsquos

Nework in Connecicu he Office o Disric and Sae urnaround in Massachusets

and Virginiarsquos Opporuniy Educaion Insiuion43

Te hree disrics covered in his brie are showing promising preliminary sudengrowh racking suden-achievemen gains back o eacher proessional developmen is

sill a challenge ha has ye o be me bu innovaive approaches o proessional develop-

men991252as demonsraed in hese hree sae akeover disrics991252can sar a conversaion

abou how o measure he conribuion o effecive eacher proessional developmen

Kaitlin Pennington is a Policy Analyst on the Education Policy team at the Center for

American Progress




Endnotes

1 Jackie Mader ldquoAre state takeovers fixing Mississippirsquos failingdistrictsrdquo The Hechinger Report March 26 2014 availableat httphechingerreportorgcontentstate-takeovers-fixing-mississippis-failing-districts_15199

2 Daniel Aaronson Lisa Barrow and William Sander ldquoTeach-ers and Student Achievement in the Chicago Public High

Schoolsrdquo Journal of Labor Economics 25 (1) (2007) 95ndash135Steven G Rivkin Eric A Hanushek and John F Kain ldquoTeach-ers Schools and Academic AchievementrdquoEconometrica 73 (2) (2005) 417ndash458 Jonah E Rockoff ldquoThe Impac t ofIndividual Teachers on Student Achievement Evidencefrom Panel Datardquo American Economic Review 94 (2) (2004)247ndash252 Robert Gordon Thomas J Kane and DouglasO Staiger ldquoIdentifying Effective Teachers Using Perfor-mance on the Jobrdquo (Washington The Hamilton Project2006) available at httpwwwbrookingseduviewspapers200604hamilton_1pdf

3 Heather C Hill ldquoFixing Teacher Professional DevelopmentrdquoPhi Delta Kappan 90 (20) (2009) 470ndash476 available at httpwwwpdkmembersorgmembers_onlinepublicationsArchivepdfk0903hilpdf

4 Robin Lake and Paul Hill ldquoPerformance Management inPortfolio School Distric tsrdquo (Seattle WA Center on Reinvent-ing Public Education 2009) available at httpwwwcrpe

orgsitesdefaultfilespub_dscr_portfperf_aug09_0pdf

5 Public Impact ldquoExtraordinary Authority Districts DesignConsiderationsmdashFramework and Takeawaysrdquo (2014)available at httppublicimpactcomwebwp-contentuploads201402Extraordinary_Authority_Districts-Public_Impactpdf

6 US Department of Education ldquoElementary amp Secondary Edu-cation Title II ndash Preparing Training and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principalsrdquo available athttpwww2edgovpolicyelseclegesea02pg20html (last accessed May 2014)

7 Kaitlin Pennington ldquoEnsuring Title II Part A Funds AreUsed for Student-Achievement G ainsrdquo Center for AmericanProgress July 26 2013 available at httpwwwamerican-progressorgissueseducationnews2013072670724ensuring-title-ii-part-a-funds-are-used-for-student-achieve-ment-gains

8 Jenny DeMonte ldquoHigh-Quality Professional Development

for Teachers Supporting Teacher Training to Improve Stu-dent Learningrdquo (Washington Center for American Progress2013) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport2013071569592high-quality-professional-development-for-teachers

9 Scott S Cowen Institute for Public Education InitiativesldquoTransforming Public Education in New Orleans The Recov-ery School District 2003 ndash 2011rdquo (2012) available at httpwwwcoweninstitutecomwp-contentuploads201112History-of-the-RSD-Report-2011pdf

10 Lyndsey Layton ldquoIn New Orleans major school districtcloses traditional pu blic schools for goodrdquoThe WashingtonPost May 28 2014 available at httpwwwwashington-postcomlocaleducationin-new-orleans-traditional-public-schools-close-for-good20140528ae4f5724-e5de-11e3-8f90-73e071f3d637_storyhtml

11 Ibid

12 Adam Hawf phone interview with author August 6 2013

13 Ibid

14 Ibid

15 StudentsFirst ldquoChange the Leadership Change the RulesImproving Schools and Districtsrdquo (2013) available at httpwwwstudentsfirstorgpolicyentrychange-the-leadership-change-the-rules-improving-schools-districts

16 Recovery School District ldquoRSD Schools in New Orleans ShowHighest Growth in 2013 State Testsrdquo available at httpwwwrsdlanetappsnewsshow_newsjspREC_ID=273983amp (lastaccessed May 2014)

17 Ibid

18 Breeana Kiter ldquoThe Birth Growth and Outcomes of the Edu-cation Achievement Authorityrdquo Michigan Policy NetworkMay 8 2013 available at httpmichiganpolicycomindexphpoption=com_contentampview=articleampid=1256the-birth-growth-and-outcomes-of-the-education-achieve-ment-authorityampcatid=36k-12-education-current-issuesampItemid=122

19 Brian Smith ldquoEAA expansion bill passes Michigan House innarrow voterdquo MLivecom March 20 2014 available at httpwwwmlivecomlansing-newsindexssf201403eaa_ex-pansion_bill_approvedhtml

20 Public Impact ldquoExtraordinary Authority Districtsrdquo

21 Michigan Radio Newsroom ldquoEAA progress report how 15failing Detroit schools fared this yearrdquo May 8 2013 availableat httpmichiganradioorgposteaa-progress-report-how-15-failing-detroit-schools-fared-year

22 Smith ldquoEAA expansion bill passes Michigan Houserdquo

23 Mary Esselman phone interview with author September17 2013

24 Ibid

25 Ibid

26 Jaclyn Zubrzycki ldquoMichigan Education AchievementAuthority Special School District A Lightning Rod ForControversyrdquo HuffPost Education December 12 2012available at httpwwwhuffingtonpostcom20121212mich-achievement-authori_n_2287214html

27 Khalil AlHajal ldquoMEAP database Dismal scores but someimprovement in EAA test resultsrdquo MLivecom February 282014 available at httpwwwmlivecomnewsdetroitindexssf201402meap_database_dismal_scores_buhtml

28 Michigan Chronicle ldquoStudentsrsquo EAA scores up dramaticallyrdquoThe Michigan Chronicle June 10 2013 available at httpmichronicleonlinecom20130610students-eaa-scores-up-dramatically


30 Nelson Smith ldquoRedefining the School District in Tennesseerdquo

(Washington Thomas B Fordham Institute 2013) availableat httpwwwedexcellencenetsitesdefaultfilespublica-tionpdfs20130423-Redefining-the-School-District-in- Tennessee-FINAL_7pdf

31 Ibid

32 Personal communication from Ash Solar executive directorAchievement Schools May 28 2014

33 Cristina Munoz phone interview with author August 232013

34 Ibid

35 Isabella Wilson phone interview with author September 162013

36 Munoz phone interview with author

37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid

40 Bill Dries ldquoAchievement School District TCAPs ReadingDown Math and Science Uprdquo Memphis Daily News July 242013 available at httpwwwmemphisdailynewscomnews2013jul24achievement-school-district-tcaps-read-ing-down-math-and-science-up

41 Ibid

42 Ibid





A close look a sae akeover disrics in Louisiana Michigan and ennessee reveals he

ollowing rends in he governance o eacher proessional developmen

bull Complete autonomy for charter schools Charer schools are given auonomy o run

proessional developmen according o heir own sandards Te saes hold he char-

er school neworks accounable or suden perormance a he end o each academic

year wih consequences conneced o low perormance

bull Partnerships with outside service providers Some sae akeover disrics use par o

heir allocaed ederal unds o conrac wih an ouside service provider o enhance



akeover disrics are sraegically hinking abou how o connec eacher proessional

developmen o he new eacher-evaluaion sysems

Lessons learned rom he innovaion in hese disrics could influence proessional-devel-opmen spending and pracices in disrics hroughou he Unied Saes While i is oo

soon o ell i he proessional-developmen governance sysems in sae akeover disrics

are effecive hey are worh noing991252i or no oher reason han ha hey break he mold

What are state takeover school districts

A sae akeover o school disrics or individual schools wihin differen disrics is a

prevalen school urnaround effor in many saes Tis school urnaround sraegy has

become more popular in he pas decade afer leaders in Louisiana creaed he RecoverySchool Disric or RSD In his model he sae idenifies is low-perorming schools and

creaes a school disric according o school perormance raher han geography No all

sae akeover disrics use his model bu he disrics discussed in his brie do ollow i

Sae akeover school disrics ha resemble he RSD use a porolio governance sra-

egy991252meaning ha here are a number o governing eniies including charer schools

or-profi operaors and radiional public schools wihin he disric4 Under he

porolio governance sraegy he sae can operae he schools in various ways A recen

sudy o hese curren disricsrsquo operaing models ound ha hey end o use one or

more o he ollowing sysems

bull Issuing charers or charer-like conracs o exernal schools

bull Operaing schools direcly by hiring a school leader and eacher eams and graning

hem charer-like auonomy

bull Operaing schools direcly using a new school model creaed or managed by he disric5
















































































































































































































Conclusion



















































American Progress




Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid

















































































































































































































Conclusion



















































American Progress




Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid










































































































































































Conclusion



















































American Progress




Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid






































































































































Conclusion



















































American Progress




Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid


































































































Conclusion



















































American Progress




Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid





























































Conclusion



















































American Progress




Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid





















Conclusion



















































American Progress




Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid

































American Progress




Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid





Endnotes














11 Ibid


13 Ibid

14 Ibid



17 Ibid







24 Ibid

25 Ibid







31 Ibid



34 Ibid



37 Ibid

38 Ibid

39 Ibid


41 Ibid

42 Ibid


Documents

How State Takeover School Districts Shake Up Teacher Professional Development